https://www.scmp.com/rss/329587/feed Finbarr Bermingham reports on Europe-China relations for the Post. He joined the newspaper in 2018, initially on the Political Economy desk reporting primarily on global trade, economics and geopolitics. After a decade on the trade beat in London and Hong Kong, he took up the role of Europe Correspondent, moving to Brussels to report from the heart of the EU. Having helmed the US-China Trade War Update, a weekly podcast, since 2019, he is the current host of the China Geopolitics Podcast. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Finbarr Bermingham Finbarr Bermingham The EU’s outgoing top trade official used her departing appearance at the European Parliament to pour cold water on the prospect of an investment deal with China, hinting instead that new weapons for dealing with Chinese “macroeconomic imbalances” could be on the way. Sabine Weyand, who is leaving her role as the EU’s director general for trade after a seven-year tenure, said the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment – signed in the last days of 2020 but frozen soon after in a row over human... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3352714/china-eu-investment-deal-should-stay-deep-freezer-warns-outgoing-trade-chief?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3352714/china-eu-investment-deal-should-stay-deep-freezer-warns-outgoing-trade-chief?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 07 May 2026 06:35:20 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham Finbarr Bermingham Brussels is rallying support among EU industry groups for a trade weapon to tackle Chinese overcapacity, as the European Commission races to propose a sweeping new tool this summer. While the contours of the new instrument remain a closely guarded secret, it is expected to be presented to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on May 29, at a rescheduled debate on China among all 27 commissioners of the bloc’s executive branch. The South China Morning Post previously reported that the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3352443/eu-sounds-out-industry-over-new-trade-weapon-against-chinas-overcapacity?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3352443/eu-sounds-out-industry-over-new-trade-weapon-against-chinas-overcapacity?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 05 May 2026 04:59:14 +0000 Xiaofei Xu,Finbarr Bermingham Xiaofei Xu,Finbarr Bermingham The EU has taken its most direct step yet to cut Chinese clean energy hardware out of publicly funded projects, banning Chinese inverters from all EU-funded schemes in a move Brussels described as the first in a series of actions targeting high-risk suppliers. “We decided we will take concrete action right now … that has included developing guidance on restricting the use of EU funds for projects involving inverters from high-risk suppliers,” European Commission spokeswoman Siobhan McGarry said... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3352435/brussels-bans-chinese-inverters-eu-funded-power-projects-connected-european-grid?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3352435/brussels-bans-chinese-inverters-eu-funded-power-projects-connected-european-grid?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 05 May 2026 02:57:16 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham Finbarr Bermingham In an abandoned Norwegian mine last year, an unusual experiment produced results that drew scrutiny in boardrooms and government offices across Europe and helped to spark new regulations pouring fuel on already fiery EU-China relations. Ruter, the public transport authority for greater Oslo, drove new and used electric buses made by Chinese manufacturing conglomerate Yutong into a decommissioned mineshaft inside a mountain. There, cybersecurity tests revealed that the buses could be remotely... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3352351/two-worlds-collide-regulatory-battlefield-hanging-over-eus-ties-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3352351/two-worlds-collide-regulatory-battlefield-hanging-over-eus-ties-china?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 04 May 2026 10:00:26 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham Finbarr Bermingham Europe’s territorial integrity is a “red line” in Finland’s relations with the United States and other powers, according to Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen. “I can only say that certainly territorial integrity is the red line. “We defend the UN Charter, the territorial integrity of nations and sovereignty, and if need be, then we have to react through the means which we have at hand,” she told the South China Morning Post when asked about Greenland. Donald Trump seriously damaged relations with... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3351531/territorial-integrity-red-line-europe-finland-warns-after-us-greenland-threats?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3351531/territorial-integrity-red-line-europe-finland-warns-after-us-greenland-threats?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 27 Apr 2026 11:00:10 +0000 Ji Siqi,Sylvia Ma,Finbarr Bermingham Ji Siqi,Sylvia Ma,Finbarr Bermingham Beijing has placed seven entities from the European Union on its export control list, banning them from receiving “dual-use” items – products with potential military application – originating in China, according to a statement from the Ministry of Commerce issued on Friday. The entities, including Belgium-based firearms manufacturer FN Herstal and its parent FN Browning Group, are predominantly major European defence contractors, aerospace research institutes and satellite intelligence firms the... https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3351292/china-places-7-eu-entities-export-control-list?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3351292/china-places-7-eu-entities-export-control-list?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 24 Apr 2026 08:10:59 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham Finbarr Bermingham China’s close ties with Russia should be a “disqualifying factor” in Beijing’s bid to launch talks on a free-trade agreement with the European Union, Finland’s foreign minister has said. In meetings with European leaders, Beijing has been floating the prospect of a trade or investment deal, while German Chancellor Friedrich Merz last month said a pact could be possible in the future. In an exclusive interview in Helsinki on Wednesday, however, Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen poured cold water on... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3351183/chinas-russia-ties-mean-eu-trade-deal-table-finland-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3351183/chinas-russia-ties-mean-eu-trade-deal-table-finland-says?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 23 Apr 2026 11:12:42 +0000 Xiaofei Xu,Finbarr Bermingham Xiaofei Xu,Finbarr Bermingham Chinese railway giant CRRC has been forced out of a Lisbon metro contract in favour of a Polish firm, after a European Commission investigation found that foreign subsidies allowed CRRC to underbid rivals. “The in-depth investigation confirmed these preliminary findings, revealing that the subsidies in question had indeed given the consortium an unfair competitive edge, to the detriment of other bidders taking part in the tender and the integrity of the EU’s internal market,” the European... https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3350912/chinas-crrc-drops-bid-lisbon-metro-deal-eu-finds-billions-subsidies-probe?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3350912/chinas-crrc-drops-bid-lisbon-metro-deal-eu-finds-billions-subsidies-probe?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 21 Apr 2026 12:36:39 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham Finbarr Bermingham China will hit EU firms with reciprocal measures if the bloc targets Chinese firms as planned under its proposed cybersecurity regulations, Beijing has warned. In a 30-page document submitted to the European Commission on Friday, China’s commerce ministry explicitly warned that broad retaliation was on the table if firms such as Huawei and ZTE were penalised by the law, which was announced in January but is still in draft form. “If the EU designates China as a ‘country posing cybersecurity... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3350763/china-threatens-eu-firms-over-cybersecurity-plans-targeting-chinese-companies?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3350763/china-threatens-eu-firms-over-cybersecurity-plans-targeting-chinese-companies?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 20 Apr 2026 12:01:08 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham Finbarr Bermingham Sven Biscop is a Belgian political scientist and strategist specialising in the foreign affairs and security of the EU and its relations with great powers. He is a director at the Egmont Royal Institute for International Relations in Brussels and a professor at Ghent University. He is also a senior research fellow at Renmin University in Beijing, where he teaches in the summer. Biscop is the author of many books, including 2024’s This Is Not a New World Order: Europe Rediscovers Geopolitics,... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3350626/saying-youre-geopolitical-actor-doesnt-make-it-so-sven-biscop-europe?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3350626/saying-youre-geopolitical-actor-doesnt-make-it-so-sven-biscop-europe?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 19 Apr 2026 22:00:19 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham Finbarr Bermingham In June 2021, from a podium in the Cornish countryside, former US president Joe Biden told a relieved Europe that “America is back at the table”. The comment – made after a summit of the Group of Seven rich nations – became a galvanising force for reinvigorated transatlanticism after the first term of Donald Trump had left it in tatters. When Russia invaded Ukraine eight months later, the G7 became the forum of choice for cooking up punitive sanctions against Russia. It was also the venue for... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3350572/rupture-how-europe-fell-out-love-america?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3350572/rupture-how-europe-fell-out-love-america?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 18 Apr 2026 15:00:10 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham,Xiaofei Xu Finbarr Bermingham,Xiaofei Xu France and Britain are pulling together a coalition of more than 30 nations on Friday for a Parisian summit aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Neither the United States nor Israel or Iran have been invited to the first major European push to influence a war that was launched six weeks ago by a US-Israeli bombardment on Iran. Europe insists it is not a party to the war, but as energy prices soar and munitions get diverted from Ukraine it is already paying the price. China is among the Asian... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3350404/why-europe-testing-third-way-hormuz-without-us-israel-and-iran?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3350404/why-europe-testing-third-way-hormuz-without-us-israel-and-iran?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 17 Apr 2026 04:24:07 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham Finbarr Bermingham Sven Biscop is a Belgian political scientist and strategist specialising in the foreign affairs and security of the EU and its relations with great powers. He is a director at the Egmont Royal Institute for International Relations in Brussels and a professor at Ghent University. He is also a senior research fellow at Renmin University in Beijing, where he teaches in the summer. Biscop is the author of many books, including 2024’s This Is Not a New World Order: Europe Rediscovers Geopolitics,... https://www.scmp.com/plus/news/china/diplomacy/article/3350314/europe-lacks-china-strategy-needs-new-us-approach-biscop-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/news/china/diplomacy/article/3350314/europe-lacks-china-strategy-needs-new-us-approach-biscop-says?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 Apr 2026 09:23:39 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham Finbarr Bermingham At a top-level meeting of her 26 department chiefs in March, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen quietly approved a plan to stop EU funds from going to clean technology projects containing Chinese inverters. Inverters are the essential power electronics at the heart of solar and wind systems. Industry groups estimate that Chinese companies led by Huawei Technologies control more than 220 gigawatts of Europe’s installed solar capacity via the devices. The commission wants to... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3350056/eu-cut-funding-chinese-inverters-quiet-offensive-replaces-grandstanding?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3350056/eu-cut-funding-chinese-inverters-quiet-offensive-replaces-grandstanding?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 Apr 2026 10:01:18 +0000 Xiaofei Xu,Finbarr Bermingham Xiaofei Xu,Finbarr Bermingham Viktor Orban’s 16-year grip on Hungary is over, with the prime minister conceding Sunday’s election in a phone call with Peter Magyar, leader of the main opposition Tisza Party. “The election result is painful but clear. I congratulated the winning party,” Orban said from his election headquarters in Budapest. The result is a resounding rebuke to a government marked by authoritarianism and corruption, and by closer ties with Beijing, Moscow and Donald Trump’s Washington over Brussels. Hungarians... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3349821/orban-concedes-defeat-hungarian-voters-deliver-sweeping-rebuke-16-year-rule?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3349821/orban-concedes-defeat-hungarian-voters-deliver-sweeping-rebuke-16-year-rule?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 12 Apr 2026 19:44:52 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham Finbarr Bermingham A long-awaited EU debate on China has been shelved in favour of the Middle East crisis, highlighting how Europe is struggling to treat Beijing as a strategic priority despite mounting economic pressure. The European Commission’s security college was set to meet this coming Monday to debate the challenges posed by Beijing, as part of what officials were referring to internally as “China week”. It would have been the first strategic discussion among the bloc’s 27 commissioners under President... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3349548/china-sidelined-eu-shelves-rare-strategy-debate-middle-east-crisis-takes-priority?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3349548/china-sidelined-eu-shelves-rare-strategy-debate-middle-east-crisis-takes-priority?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 09 Apr 2026 13:00:27 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham Finbarr Bermingham Major powers are closely watching Hungary’s election next week – a vote seen as a referendum on Europe’s right and crucial for Chinese interests in the EU. Recent polls show self-styled “illiberal democrat” Viktor Orban’s Fidesz trailing challenger Peter Magyar’s Tisza Party by between 19 and 23 points among likely voters ahead of an election on Sunday that has been described as “Europe’s most consequential”. For China, Russia and the United States under President Donald Trump, an Orban defeat... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3349109/orban-brink-could-hungarys-election-dent-chinas-influence-europe?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3349109/orban-brink-could-hungarys-election-dent-chinas-influence-europe?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 06 Apr 2026 04:00:08 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham Finbarr Bermingham European governments breathed a sigh of relief in October when the US and China sealed a fragile trade truce that paused more sweeping Chinese rare earth restrictions and papered over a Sino-Dutch row over chipmaker Nexperia. Now, however, the European Union is being urged to come up with a battle plan should the ceasefire fail or expire. A spike in superpower tensions could expose the EU to Chinese export controls, potentially pulverising its military support for Ukraine, its own efforts to... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3348494/europe-urged-learn-fight-itself-case-us-china-truce-collapses?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3348494/europe-urged-learn-fight-itself-case-us-china-truce-collapses?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 31 Mar 2026 07:00:10 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham Finbarr Bermingham In the days after the United States and Israel tipped the Middle East into a new and catastrophic crisis with their attacks on Iran, European leaders were all over the map. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz both voiced support for regime change in Iran soon after the strikes started more than four weeks ago. Each of them also questioned the continued utility of the international rules-based order, while Merz’s foreign minister Johann Wadephul... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3348402/europes-crisis-tourism-how-iran-war-swallowed-eus-geopolitical-agenda?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3348402/europes-crisis-tourism-how-iran-war-swallowed-eus-geopolitical-agenda?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 30 Mar 2026 22:00:11 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham Finbarr Bermingham To European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the ribbon of rail snaking from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia across Angola to the Atlantic port of Lobito is “more than just infrastructure”. The Lobito Corridor rail upgrade is a flagship project of the EU’s €300 billion (US$346 billion) infrastructure drive, Global Gateway, launched to great fanfare in 2021 as a rival to Beijing’s own Belt and Road Initiative. It is also pivotal to the EU’s efforts to wean itself off... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3348330/eus-flagship-africa-project-under-fire-over-ties-chinese-state-owned-firms?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3348330/eus-flagship-africa-project-under-fire-over-ties-chinese-state-owned-firms?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 30 Mar 2026 04:00:08 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham Finbarr Bermingham After eight years in the deep freeze, the European Parliament is sending an official delegation to China next week in the clearest sign yet that Beijing’s targeted lobbying blitz of its members is paying off. Seven members from the parliament’s Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) will travel to Beijing and Shanghai alongside Engin Eroglu, head of its China delegation. They will meet officials, customs and port authorities, lawmakers and companies, including Shein and... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3348098/european-parliament-heads-china-after-8-years-members-say-its-no-sign-giving?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3348098/european-parliament-heads-china-after-8-years-members-say-its-no-sign-giving?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 27 Mar 2026 05:55:21 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham Finbarr Bermingham German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has said he can imagine a trade deal with China in the future, signalling a new softening stance towards Beijing in European capitals. “We have set quite a lot in motion when it comes to trade policy. I can also envisage further agreements, for example, in the longer term an agreement with the People’s Republic of China,” Merz said in the German parliament on Wednesday. Merz’s remarks underscore how surging trade and geopolitical tensions with Washington are... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3348030/germanys-merz-floats-eu-china-trade-deal-capitals-soften-beijing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3348030/germanys-merz-floats-eu-china-trade-deal-capitals-soften-beijing?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Mar 2026 12:00:51 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham Finbarr Bermingham A delegation from China’s People’s Liberation Army will travel to Brussels next week for talks with the European Union and Nato amid heightened concerns over global security caused by the war in Iran. The EU-China Security and Defence Consultations will take place next Tuesday, official sources confirmed, with the talks between Nato and the PLA’s Office for International Military Cooperation scheduled for the same week. On the EU side, the talks will be chaired by Benedikta von Seherr-Thoss,... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3347063/chinese-military-set-eu-and-nato-talks-iran-war-reshapes-global-security-picture?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3347063/chinese-military-set-eu-and-nato-talks-iran-war-reshapes-global-security-picture?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Mar 2026 12:22:37 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham Finbarr Bermingham Ambassadors from the EU’s 27 member states will huddle in Brussels this week to thrash out a memorandum on critical minerals with the United States. Underpinning the debate will be a tension that girds many elements of the bloc’s dealings in 2026: capacity versus trust. Envoys will negotiate in the shadow of a new trade threat from US President Donald Trump, who last week shocked Brussels with a tariff investigation linked to overcapacity and forced labour of 60 economies, including China, the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3346639/tariffs-stockpiles-distrust-eus-messy-bid-ditch-china-hits-capacity-problems?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3346639/tariffs-stockpiles-distrust-eus-messy-bid-ditch-china-hits-capacity-problems?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Mar 2026 09:00:09 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham Finbarr Bermingham As the war in Iran tips the global order further into chaos, a potentially existential rupture on whether international rules still matter is threatening to tear Europe apart. Over the course of Monday and Tuesday, leaders of the European Union’s institutions – considered among the most legalistic political structures on the planet – clashed publicly over whether the bloc should still be bound by global norms. This followed more than a week of messy sparring among national political leaders from... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3346188/might-makes-right-rules-based-order-trial-europe-iran-war-deepens-divide?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3346188/might-makes-right-rules-based-order-trial-europe-iran-war-deepens-divide?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 11 Mar 2026 05:59:24 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham Finbarr Bermingham The EU must decide whether the rules-based international order “is more a help or a hindrance to our credibility as a geopolitical actor”, the bloc’s top official said on Monday, in the strongest sign yet that it might break from decades of rigid adherence to global norms. In a speech to the European Union’s ambassadors, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen used her most forceful rhetoric to date to call time on the old system, urging the diplomats to quickly update their thinking... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3345980/get-realpolitik-von-der-leyen-questions-europes-faith-rules-based-order?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3345980/get-realpolitik-von-der-leyen-questions-europes-faith-rules-based-order?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 09 Mar 2026 09:27:49 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham Finbarr Bermingham The European Union has been urged to weaponise its giant market to draw concessions from China, whose economic fragility is making it increasingly reliant on rich export markets. A new report from the European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS), the EU’s official think tank, said “China’s weakness creates opportunities” for the bloc to use its chokepoints and leverage to bring Beijing to the negotiating table in a credible way. With the United States rapidly narrowing for Chinese... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3345862/weaponise-eu-market-against-china-or-face-manufacturing-collapse-official-think-tank?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3345862/weaponise-eu-market-against-china-or-face-manufacturing-collapse-official-think-tank?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 Mar 2026 20:30:08 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham Finbarr Bermingham The European Union unveiled a sweeping raft of policies on Wednesday aimed at kick-starting its sluggish industry and protecting its critical infrastructure. A common thread through each is that the screws will be turned ever tighter on Chinese firms in Europe. Combined, the proposals reveal anxiety over the bloc’s ability to compete with cut-price and increasingly high-quality Chinese products, the heightened security fears connected to Chinese investments, and a new-found urgency to do... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3345467/china-crosshairs-eu-launches-sweeping-plans-save-its-industrial-future?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3345467/china-crosshairs-eu-launches-sweeping-plans-save-its-industrial-future?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Mar 2026 13:28:14 +0000 Mark Magnier,Xinmei Shen,Finbarr Bermingham,Lucy Quaggin Mark Magnier,Xinmei Shen,Finbarr Bermingham,Lucy Quaggin US President Donald Trump used a White House meeting with the German Chancellor on Tuesday to blast European allies, praise China, waffle on tariffs and argue that the attack he launched against Iran prevented a nuclear war. Attended by Vice-President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the White House, Trump told reporters during a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz that his order to attack Iran even as negotiations were under way was justified. “If we didn’t do what... https://www.scmp.com/news/us/diplomacy/article/3345327/trump-says-hell-cut-trade-spain-over-iran-war-stance?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/us/diplomacy/article/3345327/trump-says-hell-cut-trade-spain-over-iran-war-stance?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Mar 2026 20:25:20 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham Finbarr Bermingham The European Union’s ambitious industrial policy to challenge China has been gutted, removing AI, semiconductors and quantum computing from a list of strategic technologies that must be “made in Europe” to tap billions in government funds. Biotechnology and robotics are other cutting-edge sectors to be cut from the Industrial Accelerator Act (IAA) ahead of the proposal’s formal unveiling by the European Commission on Wednesday, a leaked draft showed. Plans to exclude non-EU-based producers from... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3345311/eu-strips-ai-chips-and-quantum-industrial-plan-aimed-countering-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3345311/eu-strips-ai-chips-and-quantum-industrial-plan-aimed-countering-china?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Mar 2026 13:51:51 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham,Xiaofei Xu Finbarr Bermingham,Xiaofei Xu The simmering war in the Middle East fractured Europe on Monday, as allies clashed, tempers flared and the shock waves from the US and Israeli bombing of Iran threatened to reverberate through the continent. The crisis exposed a familiar European fault line: while leaders insist they are the last guardians of the rules-based international order, they remain split over how to respond when allies bend or break those rules. With oil price spikes threatening to compound the European economic... https://www.scmp.com/news/us/article/3345187/europe-divided-and-edge-us-israeli-attacks-iran-ripple-across-continent?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/us/article/3345187/europe-divided-and-edge-us-israeli-attacks-iran-ripple-across-continent?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 02 Mar 2026 19:10:18 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham Finbarr Bermingham For over a year, Europe has become the world’s geopolitical punching bag, taking economic roundhouses from the east and geopolitical uppercuts from the west without ever swinging back. From US President Donald Trump’s tariffs and covetous glances at Greenland to Beijing’s rare earth embargoes and lightning blockade of semiconductor shipments, Europe’s first response has been to freeze, not fight. But now, it may be ready to counterpunch. After a fresh Trump tariff threat emerged last week, a... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3345028/europe-worlds-geopolitical-punching-bag-ready-hit-back-us-and-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3345028/europe-worlds-geopolitical-punching-bag-ready-hit-back-us-and-china?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 01 Mar 2026 14:00:08 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham Finbarr Bermingham German Chancellor Friedrich Merz travelled to Beijing with a delicate brief: vouch for a shrinking slice of big German firms still bullish on China, while defending the growing number being squeezed. On day one of his first official visit, Merz trod the line carefully – voicing openness to resetting beleaguered bilateral ties, even while gently nudging his hosts on bugbears including subsidies, currency devaluation and Russia. A day of meetings with Chinese Premier Li Qiang, President Xi Jinping... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3344661/merzs-china-tightrope-warm-words-hard-questions-beijing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3344661/merzs-china-tightrope-warm-words-hard-questions-beijing?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Feb 2026 01:00:15 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham Finbarr Bermingham The European Union’s trade chief Maros Sefcovic has railed against the bloc’s glacial trade defences, warning that years-long probes and rigid rules will not protect the bloc from China’s increasingly fierce export machine. Speaking in the European Parliament on Tuesday, Sefcovic lashed out at Beijing’s “unsustainable” trade surplus and called for an urgent overhaul of world trading rules to account for “overcapacities”, “unfair trade policies” and “state subsidies”. He confirmed, meanwhile,... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3344517/eu-too-slow-act-china-rewrites-global-trade-rules-trade-chief-sefcovic-warns?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3344517/eu-too-slow-act-china-rewrites-global-trade-rules-trade-chief-sefcovic-warns?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 24 Feb 2026 18:55:55 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham Finbarr Bermingham At a time when German industry is frequently slammed for being too slow and reluctant to change, there is one area in which industrialists have noticed rapid evolution. “The speed at which our position towards China has changed and at which our members are changing their minds on China – it’s China speed,” said Oliver Richtberg, head of the foreign trade department at Germany’s Mechanical Engineering Industry Association (VDMA). Richtberg’s group represents more than 3,000 of Germany’s “hidden... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3344366/china-shock-hangs-over-german-leader-friedrich-merzs-first-visit-beijing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3344366/china-shock-hangs-over-german-leader-friedrich-merzs-first-visit-beijing?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 23 Feb 2026 15:00:12 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham Finbarr Bermingham The European Commission has opened an investigation into Chinese online retailer Shein over, among other things, the alleged sale of “child sexual abuse material” – a move that could see the firm banned from the EU market as a last resort. The probe, launched on Tuesday under the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), will look into the systems the Singapore-based company has in place to limit the sale of illegal products. As a next step, the commission will ask Shein for further information and... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3343833/chinese-e-commerce-giant-shein-could-face-eu-ban-over-childlike-sex-dolls?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3343833/chinese-e-commerce-giant-shein-could-face-eu-ban-over-childlike-sex-dolls?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 17 Feb 2026 11:14:09 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham Finbarr Bermingham At a Munich Security Conference drinks reception last week, a seasoned Chinese delegate who has been coming to Bavaria for more than a decade said China had long felt like an observer on the periphery. China was mentioned mainly to be blamed, they said – but things flipped last year when, instead of taking Beijing to task, US Vice-President J.D. Vance targeted Europe. Later in the weekend, the event’s CEO Benedikt Franke praised the China Centre for Globalisation – a Beijing think tank – for... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3343639/transatlantic-divorce-plays-out-munich-china-enjoys-silence?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3343639/transatlantic-divorce-plays-out-munich-china-enjoys-silence?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Feb 2026 13:11:47 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham,Fan Chen,Seong Hyeon Choi Finbarr Bermingham,Fan Chen,Seong Hyeon Choi The US and China sought to manage their great power competition at Europe’s premier defence summit on Saturday, even as their top diplomats traded thinly veiled barbs at their respective roles in the current global tumult. In back-to-back speeches at the Munich Security Conference, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke of the need to carefully manage the superpowers’ differences, continuing a relative thaw that is expected to see US President Donald Trump... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3343593/rubio-wang-yi-manage-us-china-great-power-rivalry-munich-even-core-tensions-linger?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3343593/rubio-wang-yi-manage-us-china-great-power-rivalry-munich-even-core-tensions-linger?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Feb 2026 15:00:08 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham Finbarr Bermingham US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the Munich Security Conference that it would be “geopolitical malpractice” not to talk to China, as he pledged that Washington would carefully manage its differences with Beijing. “Because we’re two large countries with huge global interests, our national interests will often not align,” Rubio told the event in a keynote address on Saturday morning. “We owe it to the world to try to manage those as best we can, obviously avoiding conflict, both economic and... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3343577/rubio-european-allies-our-destiny-will-be-intertwined-yours?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3343577/rubio-european-allies-our-destiny-will-be-intertwined-yours?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Feb 2026 08:13:34 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham,Laura Zhou Finbarr Bermingham,Laura Zhou On the margins of a glitzy security event in Bavaria, the foreign ministers of France and Germany revived a dormant diplomatic format with China. In what was described as part of a larger effort to prevent the world’s superpowers from picking Europe apart, France’s Jean-Noel Barrot and Germany’s Johann Wadephul hosted Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday. It revived a configuration not seen since the days of French President Emmanuel Macron’s first term, talks that Wang said were “both an... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3343547/farewell-unipolar-moment-europe-scrambles-footing-between-us-and-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3343547/farewell-unipolar-moment-europe-scrambles-footing-between-us-and-china?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 13 Feb 2026 20:58:33 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham Finbarr Bermingham A 16th-century Flemish castle is the setting on Thursday as European leaders try to resolve a set of economic tensions haunting Europe that are almost as old: the pull between free trade and protection, integration and sovereignty. On the agenda are prickly items such as how to kick-start the EU economy, whether to issue joint debt and how far to go with “buy Europe” provisions aimed at unpicking reliance on China and the United States. Seven years after European Commission President Ursula von... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3343263/free-trade-or-fortress-europe-battle-soul-eu-economy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3343263/free-trade-or-fortress-europe-battle-soul-eu-economy?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 12 Feb 2026 08:00:08 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham Finbarr Bermingham As a flurry of European leaders flock to China, a different diplomatic dynamic has taken shape in Brussels, exposing deep-seated problems in the relationship between the EU and China. Several sources described a deliberate slowing of high-level appointments with Chinese diplomats in the Belgian capital – an effort to reciprocate the lack of access EU diplomats receive in Beijing. In the Chinese capital, the EU ambassador, Jorge Toledo, has been effectively frozen out of meetings with relevant... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3343198/cold-shoulder-china-and-eu-diplomatic-stand-ahead-munich-showdown?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3343198/cold-shoulder-china-and-eu-diplomatic-stand-ahead-munich-showdown?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 11 Feb 2026 10:22:29 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham Finbarr Bermingham Luuk van Middelaar is the director of the Brussels Institute for Geopolitics, a think tank he co-founded in 2022. A political theorist and historian by trade, he has written several books and was in the cabinet of the first European Council president Herman Van Rompuy. Van Middelaar is widely read and cited across Europe for his analysis of the EU’s political evolution, with his books translated into many languages and awarded major European literary prizes. He writes regularly for leading... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3342650/europe-must-act-fast-trumps-more-brutal-new-world-order-luuk-van-middelaar?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3342650/europe-must-act-fast-trumps-more-brutal-new-world-order-luuk-van-middelaar?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 Feb 2026 22:00:30 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham Finbarr Bermingham TikTok’s “addictive design” has been found to violate EU digital laws – in a move that could land the Chinese-owned company a fine of up to 6 per cent of its global revenue. Preliminary findings of the European Commission investigation, announced on Friday, said the video app’s infinite scroll, autoplay, push notifications and “highly personalised” recommender systems had addictive properties. Brussels wanted TikTok to change the basic design of its service, it said, including disabling some of... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3342692/eu-finds-tiktok-addictive-digital-law-probe-6-fine-looms-bytedance?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3342692/eu-finds-tiktok-addictive-digital-law-probe-6-fine-looms-bytedance?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 06 Feb 2026 11:09:59 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham Finbarr Bermingham EU industry chief Stephane Sejourne was in Washington on Wednesday, with a mandate from the bloc’s 27 member states to work towards a memorandum on critical minerals with the United States. With the sides keen to reduce their reliance on China, dramatically weaponised during last year’s US-China trade war, the French commissioner secured a “commitment” to work towards a memorandum within 30 days, to identify joint mining, refining, processing and recycling projects. In a joint statement that... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3342494/chinas-chokehold-trumps-stockpile-europe-looks-least-bad-rare-earth-bet?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3342494/chinas-chokehold-trumps-stockpile-europe-looks-least-bad-rare-earth-bet?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 05 Feb 2026 10:00:11 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham Finbarr Bermingham Luuk van Middelaar is the director of the Brussels Institute for Geopolitics, a think tank he co-founded in 2022. A political theorist and historian by trade, he has written several books and was in the cabinet of the first European Council president, Herman Van Rompuy. Van Middelaar is widely read and cited across Europe for his analysis of the EU’s political evolution, with his books translated into many languages and awarded major European literary prizes. He writes regularly for leading... https://www.scmp.com/plus/news/world/europe/article/3342456/historian-trumps-new-world-order-ukraine-war-and-europe-crisis?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/news/world/europe/article/3342456/historian-trumps-new-world-order-ukraine-war-and-europe-crisis?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 05 Feb 2026 04:20:36 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham Finbarr Bermingham The European Commission has launched an in-depth investigation into Chinese wind turbine maker Goldwind Science & Technology under the foreign subsidies regulation, a tool that has previously irked Beijing. The investigation will assess whether subsidies from the Chinese state illegally boosted the company’s position in the European market. The commission said a preliminary investigation found “indications” that Goldwind “may have been granted foreign subsidies that distort the internal... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3342259/eu-launches-subsidy-probe-chinese-wind-turbine-maker-goldwind?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3342259/eu-launches-subsidy-probe-chinese-wind-turbine-maker-goldwind?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Feb 2026 10:50:11 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham Finbarr Bermingham Flight routes between Europe and China are suddenly crowded with prime ministers and presidents, giving the impression of a continent pivoting eastward. A flurry that began late last year with visits to Beijing by the Spanish king and French president has continued with leaders of Britain, Ireland and Finland, with Germany’s chancellor to follow next month. The frenzied outreach comes with the transatlantic relationship on the rocks. US President Donald Trump’s designs on Greenland have even... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3341938/full-pivot-or-anxious-hedge-europes-leaders-flock-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3341938/full-pivot-or-anxious-hedge-europes-leaders-flock-china?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 31 Jan 2026 10:00:13 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham Finbarr Bermingham Beijing has lifted sanctions on British peers and lawmakers, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said, following his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. “This has been a cause of concern in parliament and for parliamentarians for some time and that is why I raised it on this visit,” Starmer told ITV News in Shanghai. “And the response from the Chinese is that the restrictions no longer apply and President Xi has told me that that means that all parliamentarians are welcome to visit,” he... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3341900/uk-says-china-lifts-sanctions-british-lawmakers-after-starmer-xi-meeting?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3341900/uk-says-china-lifts-sanctions-british-lawmakers-after-starmer-xi-meeting?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 30 Jan 2026 17:17:50 +0000 Xiaofei Xu,Finbarr Bermingham Xiaofei Xu,Finbarr Bermingham After nearly two decades of efforts, the European Union and India have formally concluded negotiations in New Delhi for a free-trade deal, shoring up the 27-member bloc’s ambitions to diversify trade ties while navigating tariff pressure from Washington and a ballooning deficit with Beijing. The agreement, announced on Tuesday and praised by European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen as “the mother of all trade deals”, is poised to reduce or eliminate tariffs on 96.6 per cent of the EU’s... https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3341524/historic-eu-india-trade-deal-slash-auto-tariffs-double-blocs-india-exports-2032?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3341524/historic-eu-india-trade-deal-slash-auto-tariffs-double-blocs-india-exports-2032?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 28 Jan 2026 08:00:00 +0000