A much-anticipated EU-China Summit, the first since 2020, has ended as both a failure and a success: a failure because the two sides were unable to agree on anything of bilateral importance; a success because after years of kowtowing to China, European officials finally stood their ground. EU-China relations are now on a new footing: Beijing no longer calls the shots.
EU-China relations have long been on a downward trajectory due to a panoply of disputes, including the worsening human rights situation in China, Beijing’s spreading of disinformation to cover up the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, China’s unfair trade practices, and its economic bullying of EU member states.
