Opinion | How Europe is targeting Asia while tiptoeing around China tensions

“History has repeatedly proven that any conflict can ultimately be resolved only through negotiation,” President Xi Jinping said during his visit to Europe, the first in five years. Carrying a message of peace and cooperation to Paris, he spoke of ongoing conflicts, notably Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, which he described as a “tragedy” and “a test of human conscience”.

With the Summer Olympics swiftly approaching, Xi underscored China’s willingness to work with France “to take the Paris Olympics as an opportunity to advocate a global ceasefire and cessation of war during the Games”, a statement that resonates with French President Emmanuel Macron’s call to make the Paris Games “a diplomatic moment of peace”.

Although taking an increasingly critical stance on Israel’s war conduct, Europe has largely been focused on the long drawn-out conflict in Ukraine. Macron pressed Xi to ensure China refrains from selling weapons and “strictly” controls the transfer of dual-use technology to Russia. With Russian President Vladimir Putin set to visit Beijing later this month, Macron called on Xi to exercise constructive influence on Moscow.

Overall, exchanges between Macron and Xi were warm and cordial. Nevertheless, Europe’s relations with China have undergone a qualitative shift in recent years. There have been growing disagreements not only over the conflict in Ukraine but also on matters of trade and technology, which have long been the glue of bilateral relations.

At the same time, Europe is not interested in joining a new Cold War against China, and neither is it in a position to economically decouple from China. Instead, Europe seeks to carve out its own strategic space through a principled multi-alignment strategy which protects its core values as well as facilitates robust and constructive relations with old and new powers in the Indo-Pacific. Europe wants to be a sovereign power rather than a vassal.

It is hard to understate the transformation of Europe-China relations in the past decade. Just a decade ago, European powers such as pre-Brexit Britain actively courted Beijing and supported China-led initiatives such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.