Posts and headlines circulating online have accused EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas of calling China a “cancer” and making warmongering remarks about Russia and Beijing.
One widely shared post claimed that Kallas “just described China as a ‘disease’, specifically ‘cancer’”, whilst a headline from Brussels Signal read, “EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas calls China a ‘cancer'.”
Separate posts on X, one with millions of views, also attributed the quote “If Europe cannot defeat Russia, how then are we supposed to defeat China?” to the EU’s top diplomat.
But a closer examination of Kallas’ remarks shows that, while the comments could be considered controversial, some online users presented them sensationalised and out of context.
The first comment was made by Kallas on 17 May during the Lennart Meri Conference held in Estonia. The wide-ranging conversation looked at Europe’s response to China’s growing economic influence, industrial competition and trade practices.
