
Ex-officials, academics call for US to work with Europe to counter China
- Group of experts suggest cooperation such as joint investment screening and intelligence sharing
- Report identifies key areas of trade, technology, human rights, climate, the pandemic, and reform of international institutions
Suggested areas for cooperation were those with “the most US-Europe common ground and where joint approaches or actions would increase prospects of eliciting improved Chinese behaviour or deterring bad behaviour”.
But the authors – Paul Gewirtz, Ryan Hass, Susan Thornton, Robert Williams, Craig Allen and David Dollar, all China experts – also called for a cautious approach.
“[D]urable new habits of transatlantic coordination in China should proceed with modest public expectations and quiet diplomacy on specific issues likely to produce concrete agreement,” the report said. “Conversely, such efforts could be undermined if framed as creating a bloc or coalition in opposition to China, since such framing has almost zero purchase among European leaders.”

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US President Joe Biden foresees ‘extreme competition’ with China
Since Biden was elected, he has talked about countering a rising China and the need for stronger transatlantic coalitions with the EU.
As such, the report identified trade as a top priority for cooperation with Brussels and suggested Washington propose they jointly monitor progress of China’s promises on subsidy transparency, intellectual property protection and “market opening”.
China is now EU’s biggest trading partner, an exchange complicated by labour rights and transatlantic tactics
In addition, the group said the US and EU should develop “a joint regulatory framework for e-commerce and government procurement” and “an investment screening coordination mechanism … that includes intelligence sharing” through a monthly video conference.
It also called for Washington and Brussels to establish “joint standards” to respond to non-market economic coercion or retaliation by China.

Another potential area for cooperation identified was joint standards and regulations on technology.
The group of experts urged Washington and Brussels to “adopt joint policies to implement 5G and 6G network and supply chain security principles” and “enforce norms against state-sponsored, cyber-enabled theft of commercial secrets through intelligence sharing … and where appropriate, targeted multilateral sanctions against entities that engage in and benefit from campaigns of cyber theft”.
They also called for coordination on “export controls for strategic technologies such as advanced semiconductors and cyber-surveillance tools”.
