How a German Frigate in the South China Sea May Upend Beijing-Berlin Relations
Larissa Stünkel and Marc Lanteigne
Introduction
Signs are growing in number that relations between China and the European Union are experiencing serious troubles, and in some cases Chinese diplomacy with specific EU members, such as Lithuania and Sweden, has become outright icy in nature. However, the largest of the EU’s economies, Germany, has long sought a balancing policy between China and its Western friends and allies, with the government of Angela Merkel ever-cognizant of both U.S.-led pressure to develop a stronger multilateral approach to countering Chinese power, while at the same time ensuring the stability of robust German trade relations with Beijing.
The full article is available on The Diplomat’s website.
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