Europe Has Chosen Its Future Partner, and It Isn’t the United States.
We are seeing more and more signs that Europe has already made its choice for the future. The continent increasingly views China as a more dependable partner than the United States. European governments want stable economic relationships, and China offers exactly that.
China is one of the few actors with genuine leverage over Russia. With the United States drifting into self imposed irrelevance in Ukraine, Beijing becomes a potential channel for pressure on the Kremlin. China has the power, and unlike the United States, it has never acted in a way that has materially harmed Europe.
Meanwhile, the MAGA driven turn inward has left the United States increasingly isolated from both Canada and Europe. In European political circles, there is quiet talk that Canada may soon be the last stronghold of the Western democratic tradition on the American continent. Across the rest of the hemisphere from the United States to Panama to Colombia to large parts of South America the cultural gravity is moving away from the liberal democratic model.
From December 3 to 5, President Macron will visit China at the invitation of Beijing. The agenda spans economic cooperation, the broader EU China relationship, and several strategic issues. The timing is intentional. The visit comes before any potential Trump Xi meeting, underlining China’s strategy to engage Europe directly.