EU threatens tougher stance on China as concerns over Beijing’s economic policies grow in build-up to summit
- Commission head Ursula von der Leyen and other senior officials have hit out at what they say is Beijing’s disruptive influence and unfair trade policies
- Business leaders have also expressed growing disquiet, while EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell raised the spectre of a trade war if things do not change
European Union leaders and business chiefs have rounded on China’s economic policies ahead of what .
In multiple speeches this week, the bloc’s leadership dangled the prospect of more adversarial trade policies should China not open its market to European firms and stop what they perceive as economic bullying.
While China has pushed back strongly against the idea that Europe is a rival, von der Leyen warned an audience of EU ambassadors in Brussels: “We must recognise that there is an explicit element of rivalry in our relationship.
Speaking at the same event, the EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell raised the spectre of a trade war with Beijing, panning the “abysmal trade deficit” and warning that it “will be difficult for China to maintain its access to the European market at a time when European companies are finding it increasingly difficult to work in China”.
He added: “If China continues to deny the reality and consequences of this imbalance, it runs the risk of seeing a rising demand in Europe for more protection. We are not protectionist, but maybe we have to protect ourselves. If China does not open, maybe we will have to close.”
I understand why Comrade Trump started a trade war with China, but I don't know why EU wants to do the same? Do European leaders have a death wish or are they secretly comrades too?