Category: Europe

EU Says Must ‘Step up’ Against China Rare Earths ‘Racket’

The European Union must ramp up efforts to break its dependence on China for rare earths faced with export curbs that amount to a "racket" by Beijing, the bloc's industry chief Stephane Sejourne said Tuesday. China, the world's top producer of ...

As EU Courts Africa on Minerals and Development, China’s Presence Remains Unspoken but Central

Although China is not officially on the agenda at the two-day African Union-European Union summit that began on Monday in Angola, Beijing's increasingly expansive role on the continent will be a major undercurrent at the gathering. Most importantly, European leaders are ...

As China Expands Its Presence in Africa, Smaller EU States Rush to Catch Up

By Umberto Bacchi From Finland opening diplomatic outposts in Senegal to Czech instructors training Mauritanian security forces, a group of smaller European nations has joined a global scramble for influence in Africa. Estonia, Romania and ...

China’s Suspension of Rare Earth Controls Applies to EU: Official

By Alexandria Sage The EU's Commissioner for Trade, on Friday, said China's one-year suspension of its restrictions on rare earth materials would also apply to the bloc, as well as the United States. "My understanding ...

EU, China to Hold ‘Urgent’ Talks on Rare Earth Curbs

EU and Chinese officials have agreed to meet in Brussels for "urgent" talks on China's export controls on rare earths, EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic said after speaking to his Chinese counterpart Tuesday. The world's leading producer of the minerals used ...

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

The Pain of Un-Polarity

“THE G2 WILL BE CONVENING SHORTLY!”
This post by U.S. President Donald Trump in the run-up to his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping last week may end up leaving a more lasting mark than the actual summit he attended.

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Weighing the Value of “Values”

I was in Berlin this week for a conference on the EU’s relationship with Africa in the context of the continent’s growing ties with external actors, many of whom Europe finds acutely worrying. The conference eerily landed on the second anniversary ...

For Chinese Viewers, a Serbian Blogger Replaces a Simple Story with a Complex Reality

In recent weeks, Serbia has once again found itself at the crossroads of global power politics. On Chinese social media, military enthusiasts have been celebrating the prominent role of Chinese-made equipment in Serbia’s preparations for its September 20 military parade — including the debut of two ...

German Minister Says China ‘Increasingly Aggressive’ in Asia-Pacific Region

Germany's foreign minister hit out Monday at what he called China's repeated threats to "unilaterally change" borders in the Asia-Pacific region, calling Beijing "increasingly aggressive." "China repeatedly threatens, more or less openly, to unilaterally change the status quo and shift borders ...

What Would a Grand Bargain Between China and the U.S. Mean for the Rest of Us?

The prevailing view among Chinese intellectuals is that U.S.-China strategic rivalry is structural and enduring. Yan Yilong, for instance, describes the competition as “not merely a disagreement between two sovereign states” but a “structural conflict between the great rejuvenation of ...

Lessons for Europe From China’s Critical Minerals Strategy in Africa

While the U.S., India, and countries in the Persian Gulf are all moving quickly to establish new critical mineral supply chains, the European Union is struggling to follow suit, particularly in Africa. The EU currently lacks a cohesive policy framework that ...

Why Did the U.S. Bomb Iran? A Chinese Commentator Argues the Real Target Was Europe

An influential geo-political commentator on WeChat, Zhan Hao, offers a provocative interpretation of recent U.S. military actions in the Middle East. The article, titled “Unexpectedly, the biggest loser from the U.S. bombing of Iran is the European Union — it’s going to be drained dry in ...

Will China’s Trade Strategy in Africa Succeed Where Europe’s Didn’t?

At a recent ministerial meeting in the central Chinese city of Changsha, Beijing announced an ambitious new phase of its engagement with Africa: the possibility of eliminating customs duties on exports from all 53 African countries (except for Eswatini, which maintains diplomatic relations with Taiwan). While many ...
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