After more than seven years of negotiation with Beijing, the European Union\u2019s landmark deal with China landed with a thud. Ill-timed, unenforceable and naive were just some of the charges leveled at the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment concluded Dec. 30.<\/p>\n
Now, after a week of relative silence, governments are fighting back at criticism they see as unfair. Interviews with government officials in Europe\u2019s main capitals showed a common conviction that the deal not only contains real concessions by Beijing, but that it puts the EU on a stronger footing to reengage with Washington after four years of antagonism by U.S. President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n
Rather than a rebuke to the incoming administration of President-elect Joe Biden, as critics have charged, the accord represents the first step back to a multilateral order after Trump\u2019s \u201cAmerica First\u201d stance, according to a senior official in Berlin. The U.S. needs Europe as a global player, not a vassal, so it\u2019s in American interests that the bloc presents itself as a geopolitical force in its own right, said another senior official in Rome.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, it may be seen as more of a strategic, autonomous approach towards<\/span> China,\u201d and one that Biden may not like, Sigmar Gabriel, the former German foreign minister and vice chancellor, told Bloomberg Television. \u201cBut on the other hand there is enough room to maneuver to join hands\u201d and forge a common stance on China.<\/p>\n European lawmakers and China watchers on both sides of the Atlantic argue the bloc\u2019s leaders were naive to trust Beijing on the deal\u2019s provisions on sustainable development, including commitments on forced labor that they say will never be met. By signing the agreement now, EU leaders are gifting China a diplomatic coup as it quashes dissent in Xinjiang and Hong Kong, they say.<\/p>\n EU officials say that the deal, which commits China to provide greater market access, potentially increasing bilateral trade worth some $650 billion in 2019, was as good as it could get and significantly more than anyone else has achieved. The investment deal isn\u2019t devised to address human rights issues, but still grants Europe leverage in its discussions with China, according to French President Emmanuel Macron\u2019s office. The Italian official said it would have been unthinkable until recently to bring China toward adherence on international standards on workers\u2019 rights.<\/p>\n <\/path><\/g><\/svg>@WeyandSabine<\/span>Forced Labor<\/h3>\n