Read on Twitter
"We don’t have an issue with our economic engagement...strengthening China economically or perhaps even politically. That is not the way in which we approach the China question."
Clear divergence, but not necessarily unhealthy for stress-testing policy.
https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/trend-lines/29346/how-china-eu-relations-will-affect-eu-us-relations https://twitter.com/thomaswright08/status/1354956246953156611
Clear divergence, but not necessarily unhealthy for stress-testing policy.
https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/trend-lines/29346/how-china-eu-relations-will-affect-eu-us-relations https://twitter.com/thomaswright08/status/1354956246953156611
To explain what I mean by not necessarily unhealthy, I think the same debate is going on in the US & Europe right now about whether the rivalry with China is ideological or over power/primacy. @MatthewKroenig @RushDoshi @Rmanning4 @ElbridgeColby have all weighed in at length.
For the most part, though, the consensus is coalescing around a posture that argues the implication for US policy is mainly on how to counter the challenge, not on whether it needs to be countered.
In Europe, the same debate is taking place, but the implications are very different, because Europe is not competing for primacy. So if the rivalry is mainly about power, it doesn't really implicate Europe.
If it's about ideology, the two things that matter are whether Europe is internally compromised and whether China follows the rules. In Germany and, I get the sense, in the EEAS, the view is that the US rivalry w/ China is over power & that Europe is not at risk ideologically.
So it comes down to whether the EU can make China follow the rules. The logic behind the EU-China investment deal (CAI) is that it's a testable proposition. The DC forpol establishment clearly thinks that's naïve and ill-advised.
As @thomaswright08 says, it will be a challenge engaging with Europe on this. But engaging also means listening & leaving open the possibility there might be something to be learned from EU position. At the very least it can potentially sharpen US position, hence not unhealthy.
