Commission officials will travel to Beijing in September for crunch talks on EU-China relations as Europe’s annual trade deficit with China doubled to €400bn in two years.
The EU is looking for a viable regional partner against China and sidelined previous human rights objections to kickstart free trade negotiations this week
Despite a wish by MEPs to pursue a bilateral deal with Taiwan business groups, the EU Commission warned that any embrace of Taipei could jeopardise already tense relations with China.
Europe’s attempts to get its way have been complicated by the election of left-wing and Peronist governments across South America, most notably Lula da Silva’s Workers Party in Brazil and Alberto Fernández’s Justicialist Party in Argentina.
It speaks well for the UK that it does not follow the EU’s very restrictive approach. Perhaps its recent modest successes will inspire the UK to focus more on the opportunities offered by Brexit.
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