Summary
- Beijing’s handling of the pandemic has changed long-standing European assumptions about its reliability as a crisis actor and its approach to the European project.
- Europe’s immediate medical-supply needs and dire economic situation will limit the scope of shifts in its China policy – for now.
- But, on issues ranging from supply chains to ideological competition, European governments have rebalanced their view of what dynamics with China should look like in the aftermath.
- The crisis is also intensifying demands from European parliaments, media outlets, and citizens for Europe to puts its China policy on a more open, accountable, and values-based footing.
- Governments’ pursuit of a “business as usual” approach to Beijing is growing harder to sustain.
Borrell: EU won’t again bow to Chinese censorship
https://www.politico.eu/article/josep-borrell-eu-wont-again-bow-to-chinese-censorship/
EU diplomat face enemies from within
https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-china-diplomatic-problem-eeas/
EU investment deal with China likely to hinge on three key elements, says European trade official
- Crucial European demands include subsidies to state-owned enterprises, access to the Chinese market and environmental issues, according to Ulrich Weigl
- ‘Fundamentally China will continue being what it is, all at the same time – a partner, a competitor and a systemic rival’
Europe’s top three economies are now in recession. The real shock is still to come
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/15/investing/premarket-stocks-trading/
China trying to divide and rule in Europe, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell says
- Member states must ‘maintain the necessary collective discipline’ as China looks to take advantage of their different views on diplomacy, Spaniard says
- Borrell also questions Beijing’s insistence on ‘telling the world’ about its aid efforts during the Covid-19 pandemic and its unique take on multilateralism
Changes in the EU-China relationship have been accelerating
Categories: EU Countries
