After Merkel, who? China and EU ties on a knife-edge as German chancellor says long goodbye

Name: Beijing hits back at Western sanctions against China’s alleged treatment of Uygur Muslims
Uploaded: 2021-08-09T14:00:19.000Z
Duration: 3 min 36 s
Description: Beijing hits back at Western sanctions against China’s alleged treatment of Uygur Muslims

For 16 years, Angela Merkel spearheaded a EU-China relationship leaning more towards commerce than human rights

Amid pressure to tackle rights abuses and economic foul play, the 27-nation bloc faces being caught between sparring superpowers minus its most seasoned referee

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrives for a press conference in Berlin on July 22. She will not be seeking a fifth term in 2021. Photo: AFP

Finbarr Bermingham

Published: 10:00pm, 9 Aug 2021Updated: 10:57pm, 9 Aug 2021

As Angela Merkel’s leadership of Germany heads into its final weeks, jostling is under way inside and outside the European Union to shape its future relations with China.

Her farewell tour featured a trip to Washington, a series of high-level summits with Western allies, and multiple meetings with top level American officials in Europe – each of which had China placed high on the agenda.

Also on the schedule was a series of calls with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, during which he was careful to remind her of Europe’s “strategic autonomy” and independence from the US’ China policy, while she continued to seek out areas for collaboration.

It was typical of Merkel, who has for 16 years been the primary sponsor of a EU-China relationship that was weighted more heavily towards commerce than human rights.

But she leaves things delicately poised. A fierce backlash against China is rippling through the continent, as politicians, rights groups and media pressure authorities to take a firmer stand against human rights abuses and economic foul play.

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Beijing hits back at Western sanctions against China’s alleged treatment of Uygur Muslims

Europe finds itself caught in the middle of two sparring superpowers and will soon be without its most experienced referee. As it bids auf Wiedersehen Angela, players on all sides are wondering who will fill the void she leaves behind.