BERLIN – The European Union has struggled for four years to negotiate an investment agreement with China, while confronting the opposition of some of its members and increasingly the US. In the end, it was German Chancellor Angela Merkel who pushed the project to the finish line last month, according to officials familiar with the talks.
After the agreement was concluded on December 29 in a virtual meeting between EU leaders and Chinese President Xi Jinping, Ms. Merkel held a separate video conference with Mr. Xi and President Emmanuel Macron of France held to finalize the details of an agreement she later described. assistants as the flagship achievement of her final year in office.
The legacy of Germany’s Nazi past has for decades prevented the country from using hard force internationally. Instead, its foreign policy has focused on cultivating good relations with allies as well as opponents to protect the exports on which its economy depends.
When Mrs. Merkel will retire later this year, with little expectation that this will change, which could hamper President-elect Joe Biden’s plan to build a broad front for China’s opponent. This is despite the expected election on Saturday of a new chairman of Ms. Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union, which could eventually take over as chancellor, with one candidate considering more hawkies than she.
Under President Trump, the US avoided their allies from entering into direct talks with China in an attempt to improve the terms of its economic relationship with the Asian giant. But now, just like Mr. Calling for a collective approach to China from Western democracies, the EU and Germany are unlikely to look back on their own bilateral agreement with Beijing.