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Opinion | The EU can play a crucial role in averting armed conflict between US and China
- The European Union may be unwilling to join the United States in taking a hard stance against China, but it can serve as an intermediary
- A de-escalation of US-China tensions is far from guaranteed, but the EU’s record of fostering negotiations between rival powers puts it in an ideal position to do so again
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European countries are currently divided over whether to join US President Joe Biden’s diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics in Beijing. The episode underscores that, when it comes to dealing with China, Europe and the US truly are an ocean apart.
Most European governments cannot reconcile their interests with the vision of a US-led coalition of democracies standing up to the world’s autocracies, and officials balk at pursuing a China policy focused on containment, under the guise of competition.
While the European Union wants to deepen transatlantic cooperation, there is no consensus on how to do so without alienating China or undermining the very international system it aims to defend. Nor are European governments convinced of America’s reliability as a partner.
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Biden might value the transatlantic relationship, but his predecessor, Donald Trump, did not. Who is to say what the next US president – possibly Trump himself – will stand for? This doubt is a key motivation behind the EU’s effort to operationalise its vision of “strategic autonomy”.
To be sure, there is scope for transatlantic collaboration on China. In fact, efforts to advance such cooperation are already in motion, in the form of the US-EU Dialogue on China and the US-EU Trade and Technology Council.
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Joint action to counter China’s anticompetitive trade practices, export and investment restrictions in response to China’s human-rights abuses, and a push for high standards for overseas infrastructure projects should be welcomed.
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