Joe Biden’s European diplomatic blitz will have China woven ‘throughout every meeting’
- European leaders have concerns about the US president’s hawkish approach toward China, as well as tariffs and travel bans, all continuing from the Trump era
- A cornerstone of the G7 meeting is expected to be a ‘green’ rival to Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, but China likely won’t be mentioned by name
Also of concern is his hawkish approach to China, seen by many to be even more hardline than Trump, but delivered with a smile and a rhetorical commitment to multilateralism to which EU leaders – keen to strike a more balanced approach towards Beijing – find it difficult to say no.
“It is important to underscore the fact that Europeans, when we talk to embassies and chancelleries across both western and central eastern Europe, are feeling slightly disappointed, I think, in the first few months of the Biden demonstration on certain aspects,” Benjamin Haddad, director of the Europe Centre at the Atlantic Council, said on a webinar last week.
On Wednesday, Biden will touch down in Europe on his initial overseas trip as president for the first EU-US Summit since 2014, the first in-person G7 Summit since 2019 and the first in-person Nato Summit since 2018.