As the transatlantic relationship has reached new lows in the modern era, and as China and the United States are bogged down in a trade war, Beijing has launched a charm offensive towards Europe. The first half of July saw an unprecedented density of high-level Sino-European interactions. Beijing held its annual 16+1 Summit with Eastern European countries in Sofia on July 7, but toned it down to calm suspicions of alleged Chinese attempts to divide the EU. At the Sino-German government consultations in Berlin on July 9, Prime Minister Li Keqiang flattered German Chancellor Angela Merkel and his government made a symbolic concession by letting Liu Xia, the widow of Nobel Peace laureate Liu Xiaobo who died in Chinese detention, emigrate to Germany.
