By virtue of its investments and access to every level of European societies, Beijing is poised to significantly expand its role in EU politics.
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Andrew A. Michta is dean of the College of International and Security Studies at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, and a nonresident senior fellow in the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security.
A few weeks ago, while attending the Munich Security Conference, I witnessed the arrival China’s Director of the Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission Wang Yi.
The pomp and attention given to Wang was unmistakable, as was the coverage of his subsequent speech, restating the familiar Beijing talking points on China’s approach to “making the world a safer place.”
Both the speech and the subsequent moderated discussion made clear that Wang had come to Munich to drive a wedge between the United States and Europe — to attack America and to woo Europe. And much of the subsequent conversation in the hallways of the conference venue underscored that after three decades of deepening economic relations, China is very much a “power in Europe,” despite its geographic distance.
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By virtue of its investments, its access to every level of European societies and its accompanying growing influence among the Continent’s business and policy elites, China is poised to significantly expand its role in European politics. And the decisions Europe now has to make when it comes to relations with China going forward will go a long way in shaping transatlantic relations in the coming decade.
As Beijing finds its access to American technology and its research and development (R&D) base evermore restricted, access to European corporations and the Continent’s R&D base will become that much more important. At the same time, Europe’s — and especially Germany’s — dependence on Chinese subcomponents and market access has grown to a point where Beijing has significant leverage in dealing with European governments.