Europe reasserts middle path on China

President Xi Jinping started his week overseas mending ties with the United States amid Taiwan tensions, and ended it with European leaders making the case for resisting the Biden administration’s sweeping chip curbs on China.

The shift in sentiment amounts to a victory for Xi on just his second foray outside of China since the pandemic began — a span that had seen Beijing’s relations with the United States and its allies go from bad to worse.

In October, President Joe Biden restricted the sale of semiconductors and chipmaking equipment to China in a bid to stem its economic development, and asked key allies to comply — raising fears of a split in the global economy.