Opinion | China wants to engage with Europe. Are Brussels and London listening?

On the day the European Union announced its decision to raise tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, I arrived in the United Kingdom for the first time in more than five years. Sitting in Oxford’s Saïd Business School with Chinese senior executives, we were all shocked to hear about Europe’s deepening suspicion of China.

Today, Europeans are increasingly disappointed with China’s position on the Russia-Ukraine war and have gradually adopted the view that the continent should not be as open to China as before.

While walking around Oxford, I noticed an influx of young Chinese students to this historical college town, joining their peers from around the world for summer education programmes. The Chinese parents of the younger generation have benefited tremendously from opportunities that the reform and opening up policy has provided them; they understand the importance of global engagement for their own children.

However, the West’s perspective on China seems vastly different from the pre-Covid era. It may not be easy for Europe to decouple from China, but significant doubts about embracing or rebuilding economic relations have rapidly risen in Europe. The emotions surrounding Europe’s relationship with China run deep, as evidenced by lectures given by academics and business executives during my first week in Oxford.

In addition to the EU’s decision to raise tariffs on electric vehicles from China, Berlin has announced it will phase out components made by Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE from its 5G wireless network over the next five years. The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) has recently cast China as the “decisive enabler” of Russia’s war in Ukraine. Nato is also considering the reclamation of China’s Belt and Road Initiative infrastructure projects in Europe. All of these point to a deteriorating relationship between Europe and China.