Of course, CAI, if finally ratified, would amount to a bilateral deal, @vonderleyen claims notwithstanding. But the criticism that EU should not do bilateral deals with authoritarian powers sounds hollow to me. The question isn't, whether, but how And this CAI deal falls ... https://twitter.com/samirsaran/status/1345271141582000128

... short, no question. This deal sets aside the systemic rivalry and it signals that on the trade and investment front EU China relations still focus on cooperation and competition only. This is what the forced labour issue stands for. But geoeconomics follows geopolitics, ...

... not the other way around. The handling of the CAI deal so far demonstrates that GER & FRA leaders are willing to cast their course in an out-dated mold. European Commission under @vonderleyen is their pawn. So is all lost? No. Remember TTIP? 'Twas an unstoppable endeavor ...

... until it wasn't. Don't count out the public nor the parliaments, EP in particular. Obviously that means developping a China discourse that does not just look at the nuts and bolts of CAI. On that I agree with the authors. The new year is young; let's try.