Europe’s “Sinatra doctrine” on China
The EU wants to go its own way
CLICHÉS ABOUND when discussing China’s relations with Europe. It is easy for someone to slip in Napoleon’s view on the country’s sleeping habits, or Zhou Enlai’s take on the historiography of the French revolution. Full marks for effort, then, to Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign-policy chief, who turned to a less frequently cited source of inspiration to explain the bloc’s policy on China: “We have to be like Frank Sinatra, no? ‘My way’.”
This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “The Sinatra doctrine”
From the June 13th 2020 edition
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