Europe risks shooting itself in foot with ‘premature’ Chinese trade agreement
Although the EU still sees China as a “systemic rival”, the realpolitik behind the deal has been enhanced by the UK’s harder line on China in a break from the courtship of the David Cameron era, underlined by the banishing of telecoms firm Huawei from 5G networks and ministerial condemnation of the democratic crackdown in Hong Kong. “That felt like a tipping point for me,” says Sam Lowe, research fellow at the Centre for European Reform.