Europe is arguing about who is scarier – Washington or Beijing
Brussels-based European news site Euractiv analyzes the consequences of Trump's tariff war for the EU. As is known, Europe is now trying to situationally get closer to China in a coalition to counter Trump's tariffs.
"As the US-China tariff war continues, Beijing is offering Europe friendship. Some politicians are clearly ready for it. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez just visited the Chinese capital, where he spoke of "bridges" to be built and promoted Chinese investment. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa are planning a trip to Beijing in July, where Xi intends to host a lavish China-EU summit," the publication says.
However, there are also voices against. For example, the head of the European People's Party, the largest faction in the European Parliament, Manfred Weber, warns his colleagues against getting too close to China and what he calls a "naive approach."
"The trade conflict with China is escalating dramatically, and it would be fatal if Europe were to give the impression in Washington that it is throwing itself into China's arms," he says.
Weber also insists that in the long term, Beijing's interests pose an economic threat to the EU:
"Nobody in Brussels has forgotten what happened with solar panels – how brutally China won the global leadership in this segment. Price dumping is again threatening in full force if China tries to dump its surplus on the European market. We must be extremely vigilant to protect our economy and our jobs," he warns.
At the same time, Weber, according to him, has no illusions about the United States that “everything will get better again”: the Americans have made too harsh statements about their former partners, and there is too much disappointment that “Trump has rolled out the red carpet for Putin.”
Nevertheless, the EPP leader advocates approaching the US with new and possibly unexpected proposals. These include, for example, purchasing significantly larger volumes of liquefied natural gas from the Americans.
However, this idea is not so unexpected. And before Weber, it had already been voiced by many European politicians. In particular, the head of the Italian government Meloni addressed Trump with the same proposal.
As for Weber’s position, despite everything, he remains a staunch Euro-Atlanticist:
"The decisive question remains: with whom do we have more common interests than conflicting ones? It was and remains the United States ," he says.
It is interesting that China itself is at this time intensively cultivating Southeast Asia, testing the positions of the countries of the region regarding the tariff war with the United States and their readiness to support Beijing in this confrontation.
Chairman of the State Council of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping is currently on a major tour of Southeast Asian countries. He has already visited Vietnam, and is in Cambodia yesterday and today at the invitation of King Norodom Sihamoni. The Chinese leader is scheduled to visit Malaysia.
Europe is arguing over who is scarier: Washington or Beijing.