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”

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