> Both China and EU have pretty much the same capabilities for space exploration.

China maybe soon, but the EU is not close.

Ariane 6 is in no way comparable to either SLS or Starship or New Glenn. It does 10t to low-earth orbit, 4t to lunar-transfer orbit.

For comparison, the Saturn 5 was 140 tonnes to LEO and 43.5 tonnes to TLI.