Global Affairs: Europe rethinking its approach to China

Shifts under way as realisation grows that the concept of ‘change-through-trade’, which worked with the Soviet Union, is failing with Beijing

The shifts may be slow, sometimes imperceptible, and often contradictory. But make no mistake: Europe is now in the throes of re-evaluating its relations with China.

And although the Europeans are highly unlikely to follow the United States in confronting China across the board and across the world, events over the past few weeks indicate that the strategy rethink now taking place in European capitals - particularly in some of the continent's biggest countries such as Germany or France - is just as profound as the policy review undertaken in Washington, and with just as many long-term consequences.

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