Publication

According to this policy report, China is exploiting the EU's divisions and treating the 27-state bloc with 'diplomatic contempt' on issues ranging from trade to the Dalai Lama. Even though China is the EU's second largest trading partner, the authors state, EU policy still has roots in a time when China was a developing country rather than a diplomatic competitor. They argue that following the failure of the EU to put united demands to China at the G20, it is essential that the EU strikes tougher bargains with Beijing and uses the levers at its disposal - otherwise it will be outmanoeuvred at the May EU-China summit in Prague.