Opinion | Working on peace for Ukraine can bring China and Europe closer together

After a year in which EU-China ties were overshadowed by the Ukraine war, European leaders are re-engaging with China

Concerns over interdependence and security remain but the Ukraine crisis is a chance for both sides to pull towards a common goal

Reading Time:3 minutes

Published: 1:00am, 31 Mar 2023Updated: 1:45am, 31 Mar 2023

Last year was a challenging year for the European Union, and also for its China policy. Faced with multiple challenges – from the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war to the energy and inflation crises – the EU struggled to adjust its policy towards China.

At the Foreign Affairs Council meeting last October, the EU set a new tone for its China policy, with economic competition and systemic rivalry becoming the centre of discussions.

Since last year, the EU’s policy towards China has been largely shaped, or even in some ways hijacked, by the Ukraine crisis. While strengthening its “tripartite approach” (cooperation, competition and rivalry), the EU’s China policy is incorporating some new thinking that is manifesting in the political, economic and security fields.

Politically, the Ukraine crisis has reinforced the tendency within the EU to lump China together with Russia, forcing the EU to reconsider how to engage with countries that have different political systems.

Economically, Russia’s weaponisation of the EU’s dependence on its energy has also prompted the EU to re-evaluate its economic interdependence with China, which is increasingly viewed as a potential source of risk that needs to be addressed.

In the security field, the traditional narrative that China-EU relations are free from geopolitical conflicts is also being subtly changed by the Russia-Ukraine war, with security concerns increasingly featuring in the EU’s China agenda.

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