EU-China relations: spectre of Trump hangs over Munich conference as Beijing looks for openings in Europe

Name: America’s threat to drop trade rule may hurt China, Temu and itself
Uploaded: 2024-02-19T05:00:40.000Z
Duration: 16 min 42 s
Description: America’s threat to drop trade rule may hurt China, Temu and itself

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China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi attends the 60th Munich Security Conference. More than 500 high-level international decision-makers met at the conference from February 16 to 18 to discuss global security issues. Photo: EPA-EFE

Finbarr Berminghamin Munich

Published: 1:00pm, 19 Feb 2024Updated: 1:20pm, 19 Feb 2024

Opened in 1841 and almost completely destroyed by British bombs in 1944, the old Hotel Bayerischer Hof in Munich has seen its fair share of ghosts.

Over the last weekend, however, it was haunted by the possibility of a different sort of spectre.

Donald Trump, the former US president and presumptive Republican nominee for November’s US election was not at the 60th Munich Security Conference but his absence loomed over it, percolating through tense conversations about Ukraine, Gaza and Europe’s ability to provide for its own security.

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America’s threat to drop trade rule may hurt China, Temu and itself

On Friday, United States Vice-President Kamala Harris tried to reassure Europeans rattled by Trump’s potential comeback and following his vow on February 10 that he would “encourage” Russia to attack members of Nato who had not met their financial obligations.

“In these unsettled times, it is clear: America cannot retreat. America must stand strong for democracy. We must stand in defence of international rules and norms, and we must stand with our allies,” Harris said.

On Sunday, however, an alternative picture of the future was painted by J.D. Vance, a Republican Senator for Ohio, who said he “can’t speak for Donald Trump … but I think that [Trump] agrees with what I’m going to say”.

“I don’t think we should pull out of Nato and no, I don’t think we should abandon Europe. But yes, I think that we should pivot, the United States has to focus more on East Asia. That is going to be the future of American foreign policy for the next 40 years, and Europe has to wake up to that fact,” Vance told the conference known as the “Davos of Defence”.