As transatlantic divorce plays out in Munich, China enjoys the silence
For long, China was a magnet for America’s rhetorical aggression. Now, it is the Europeans who are under fire
At a Munich Security Conference drinks reception last week, a seasoned Chinese delegate who has been coming to Bavaria for more than a decade said China had long felt like an observer on the periphery.
China was mentioned mainly to be blamed, they said – but things flipped last year when, instead of taking Beijing to task, US Vice-President J.D. Vance targeted Europe.
Later in the weekend, the event’s CEO Benedikt Franke praised the China Centre for Globalisation – a Beijing think tank – for “coming here even when times weren’t rosy and when criticism of China was very direct and harsh”, suggesting again that things were looking better for China in Munich.
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J.D. Vance says ‘threat vis-a-vis Europe is not Russia, it's not China’
The transformation was inescapable throughout the 2026 edition of Europe’s premier defence summit. China fell way down the agenda, as the slow, messy transatlantic divorce took centre stage.
His speech – couched in more diplomatic language than Vance’s – said Washington was committed to Europe, but only if they got on board with President Donald Trump’s quest to “rebuke and deter the forces of civilisational erasure that today menace both America and Europe alike”.
Rubio received a standing ovation from some senior European officials, including German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas and economy chief Valdis Dombrovskis, while others said they enjoyed it.