China and the EU risk a trade war

China andEUEUEU the European Union could not have set expectations much lower for their summit on December 7th in Beijing. Before Xi Jinping hosted Charles Michel, president of the European Council, and Ursula von der Leyen, head of the European Commission, officials warned that substantive agreements on trade, climate change or geopolitical differences were unlikely.The visitors were expected to raise China’s closeness to Russia and to ask about alleged sales by Chinese companies of dual-use items, such as semiconductors or drone parts, that help Russia’s war effort in Ukraine. Alas, China’s line on Ukraine has hardened in recent months. Chinese officials have left Western diplomats with the impression that they expect Vladimir Putin to avoid a humiliating defeat, and to see Western unity crumble, making a frozen conflict a likely outcome. Just in case China’s indifference to moral pressure was not clear enough, on December 4th Mr Xi hosted Alexander Lukashenko, the president of Belarus, for the second time this year. Mr Xi spoke of strengthening political trust with Mr Lukashenko, a Putin ally and pariah in circles.