China-EU summit has low expectations

FORMER US secretary of state Henry Kissinger was widely attributed to have asked, “Who do I call if I want to speak to Europe?” This telephone number question has been repeated often since to highlight the lack of a unified foreign policy across an European Union (EU) currently comprising 27 countries.

The implication of the telephone question is that there could be significant potential benefits for other foreign powers if there is a single interlocutor in the EU to speak with. However, an increasingly common criticism in Europe of China is the opposite: namely, that Beijing favours a splintered EU so that it can “divide and rule”.

This is one reason why the latest annual EU-China summit, coming on the 20th anniversary of the strategic partnership of the two powers, will be more important than most. There is an undeniable chill in relations that could see the two sides fail to even issue a joint statement following their summit in Beijing on Thursday (Dec 7) and Friday.