China-EU talks hit another snag after Biden camp objects
China and the European Commission appeared close to announcing a landmark agreement this week that wouldmake it easier for their companies to invest in each other’s economies. Then it hit another snag: Atweetby a topaide toJoe Biden signaled that the president-elect was not happy about the deal.
The pact, nearly seven years in the making, remains a top priority of Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany because it would give companies like Daimler andVolkswagen better control over their operations in China.
China, which has long beenwaryof allowingforeign companies greater access, seems eager to strike a deal now before the new U.S. administration can try to rally a united front against Chinese policies and actions, as Biden has pledged to do.
Merkel and other leaders have been pressing to complete the deal before the end of the year, while Germany holds the rotating six-month presidency of the EuropeanCouncil. Lastweek they evencirculated 126-page draft that was largely completed except for unresolved issues of wording.
Their efforts, and an expected announcement Tuesday, have instead run headlong into the growing animosity toward China and increasingly vocalopposition in the final rounds of talks.
In the European Parliament, the pact faces significant opposition from members who say it does not do enough to open China’s economy or to stop Chinesehumanrights violations.
InWashington, members of the incoming administration openly flagged that they hoped Europe would wait.
Biden’s choice as national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, wrote on Twitter on Monday that thenewadministration “would welcome early consultations with our European partners on our common concerns about China’s economic practices.”
The White House also weighed in. A spokesman for the National Security Council, JohnUllyot, warned that any commitment from China “that is not accompanied by strong enforcement and verification mechanisms is merely a propaganda win” for the Chinese Communist Party.
The Trump administration has been trying, with mixed success, to encourage allies to followits example in reducing economic and technological ties with China. As the talks in Europe have gained momentum in recent weeks, President Donald Trump has instead been subsumed with trying to overturn the results of the presidential election, while many top advisershave been focused on the new stimulus bill or the response to the coronavirus.
If a deal comes to pass, it would be an unexpected diplomatic victory for China after a year inwhich its internationalstandingplummeted over its obfuscation about the pandemic, its aggressive actions in Hong Kong and the South China Sea, and most recently a fierce dispute with Australia.
“The Chinese are keen to weaken any kind of trans-Atlantic alliance by pushing this through,” said Theresa Fallon, director of the Center for Russia Europe Asia Studies in Brussels.