This year is set to be a transformative one with considerable unpredictability. In response to China’s skyrocketing economic power and political influence across the world, “EU-China – A strategic outlook,” the newly published report by the European Commission, takes the lead on an evaluation primarily pertaining to relations between China and the European Union. The document conceives of China as “an economic competitor in the pursuit of technological leadership, and a systemic rival promoting alternative models of governance,” but simultaneously as a partner.
The report “included the clearest and toughest language yet toward China in an EU document,”commented Fred Kempe in a CNBC article. Even though both media at home and overseas have set a strikingly worrisome tone on the report’s outlook, does it really imply that there might be a watershed moment ahead for the EU’s foreign policy toward China?
