Farewell to the ‘unipolar moment’: Europe scrambles for footing between US and China

On the margins of a glitzy security event in Bavaria, the foreign ministers of France and Germany revived a dormant diplomatic format with China. In what was described as part of a larger effort to prevent the world’s superpowers from picking Europe apart, France’s Jean-Noel Barrot and Germany’s Johann Wadephul hosted Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday. It revived a configuration not seen since the days of French President Emmanuel Macron’s first term, talks that Wang said were “both an innovative move in response to the changing circumstances and an important opportunity to conduct strategic communication”. Wang warned that “Europe’s challenges do not come from China”, telling the Europeans to adopt a rational China policy. While Beijing wants Brussels to have a pragmatic approach to China, the Europeans are trying to become more than the sum of their parts on trade. “If we do not stick together, then we are screwed,” said one official, explaining the decision. “They look at which country has which sector, be it French brandy or German cars, and they find it very easy to divide us. We need to stop this and start thinking about this together.” Elsewhere on the first day of Europe’s premier security gathering, European leaders took potshots at the US political shift under US President Donald Trump and China’s assertiveness under Chinese leader Xi Jinping, to make the case for continental independence. “China wants to be a leader in shaping the world, and it has paved the ground for that over many years. With strategic patience in the foreseeable future, Beijing could be on an equal footing with the United States in military terms,” said German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who accused Beijing of “redefining the international order in its own favour”. “If there had been a unipolar moment after the fall of the Berlin Wall, a unipolar moment in history, it has long passed. The US claim to leadership has been challenged, and possibly lost.” In his strongest remarks about the changing global situation to date, the German leader – who will travel to Beijing in two weeks – said the international order “no longer exists”. “Together we’ve entered an era that once again is marked by power and big power politics, very openly,” Merz said. Later in the day, Macron gave an impassioned defence of Europe, while urging a clampdown on social media platforms and “Chinese algorithms”. “Look at that incredible space for the free movement of goods and people, a space of freedom, a space of peace and prosperity. Look at the life expectancy, health, equality and freedom indicators – and we still believe in science in Europe,” Macron said. “Look at the number of EU Nobel prizes. Look at how the European cohesion policies ensured economic convergence and our citizens, their liberties, their press, schools, universities, and academic freedoms are protected. It is a space, not of coercion, but of cooperation. We should be proud of our European achievements and know our strengths.” During a panel discussion, the European Union’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, gently pushed back on US ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz’s claim that Trump’s “board of peace” aligned with the UN. “What’s the opposite of world order based on rules? Tyranny and wars. That’s clearly where we are now,” the former Estonian prime minister said. While US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was not expected to give a speech that was as hostile as Vice-President J.D. Vance did a year ago when he speaks in the same hall on Saturday, signs of a transatlantic fray were everywhere. Rubio skipped a meeting with European leaders on the war in Ukraine on Friday, appearing to further marginalise their involvement in peace talks. American opposition figures tried to assuage their European colleagues that the US would not disappear from the global stage forever. “Donald Trump is temporary – he’ll be gone in three years,” said Gavin Newsom, the Californian governor who is a potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidate. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York congresswoman also tipped for a 2028 run, conceded that “we are in a new day and a new time”, but insisted that this “does not mean the majority of Americans are ready to walk away from the rules-based order and that we’re ready to walk away from our commitment to democracy”. Amid the transatlantic soul-searching, Wang also met with counterparts including Rubio and Ukraine’s Andrii Sybiha. Sybiha told Ukrainian TV channel Novyny Live that he invited Wang to visit Ukraine, though the Chinese foreign ministry did not mention the offer in its statement about the talks. Sources close to Kyiv said that while there had been little sign of a major change in China’s policy – seen as pro-Russian by many in Europe – there were minor shifts that were encouraging. A group of Chinese security scholars were expected to make a rare visit to the Ukrainian capital in April, a person familiar with the plan said. Beijing has also been sending power generators and transformers to blackout-plagued Ukraine under the guise of humanitarian aid, via third countries, the person added. The subtle adjustments come as European diplomats try to test whether Beijing is willing to distance itself – even marginally – from Moscow. After months in which the security focus has shifted to Greenland, officials were keen to recentre the attention in Munich on Ukraine, as the war there edges towards its fourth anniversary. Before Wang’s meeting with the French and German ministers, a source said they would continue to push him on Ukraine. Rather than open-ended pleas to rein in Russian President Vladimir Putin, they would try to nudge Wang to lean on Moscow to stop bombing civilian and energy infrastructure. In Munich on Friday, the language was of sovereignty and strength. “Europe is rearming, but we must now go beyond. Europe has to learn to become a geopolitical power. It was not part of our DNA,” Macron said. The harder question – after a week in which leaders disagreed wildly on how the bloc should move forward – is whether Europe can turn those words into action.

Farewell to the ‘unipolar moment’: Europe scrambles for footing between US and China

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}French and German foreign ministers revive talks with Beijing counterpart to respond to US-China divide-and-rule tactics and bolster European unity

French and German foreign ministers revive talks with Beijing counterpart to respond to US-China divide-and-rule tactics and bolster European unity