China’s behaviour during the covid pandemic could make the EU consider a strategic shift in its relationship with Beijing A paradigm shift is taking place in relations between the European Union (EU) and China.
The covid crisis has triggered a new debate within Europe about the need for greater supply-chain “diversification", and thus for a managed disengagement from China.
That will not be easy, and it won’t happen quickly. But, clearly, Europe has abandoned its previous ambition of a more closely integrated bilateral economic relationship with China.
In the past, when Europeans sought trade, economic- and foreign-policy reforms vis-à-vis China, their hope was always to increase contact with the country while making the relationship