International | From Macron to Mercedes

Europe can’t decide how to unplug from China

We calculate the continent’s exposure to the Asian power

Image: Alberto Miranda
|Berlin, Brussels and Paris

How should Europe handle China? The continent is trying to decide. After decades of pursuing trade, Europeans are pondering how much to decouple. Their closest ally, America, wavers between China-bashing and war talk on the one hand, and de-escalation and partial detente on the other. Individual European countries struggle to agree with each other.

This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline “Why unplugging is so hard”

How should America lead? The Biden doctrine and its flaws

From the May 20th 2023 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

Discover more

Illustration of a person leaning on a table with a red tie and orange-toned hands. In front are small American and Chinese flags on a table.

“Tariffers” v “traders”: the new contest for Donald Trump’s ear

Eye-witnesses to the drama of the first Trump presidency brace for the sequel

Special Investigation Police, conducting a citywide anti-gang operation, raid a house in the Barrio Abajo district where gang members are believed to be residing

The world is losing the fight against international gangs

Globalisation and technological progress are leading to a boom in organised crime


COP29 UNFCCC Climate Conference In Baku

Half a loaf, at best, from the climate talks

This year’s negotiations made very modest progress


Is your master’s degree useless?

New data show a shockingly high proportion of courses are a waste of money

The perils of appeasing a warlike Russia

Finland’s cold-war past offers urgent lessons for Ukraine’s future

The danger zone between two presidents

The world’s bad actors will relish any power vacuum