BERLIN – The European Union has struggled to negotiate an investment deal with China for four years, but faced opposition from some of its members and, increasingly, the US. Ultimately, it was German Chancellor Angela Merkel who pushed the project to the finish line last month, according to officials familiar with the talks.
After the deal was closed on December 29 during a virtual meeting between EU leaders and Chinese President Xi Jinping, Ms. Merkel held a separate video conference with Mr Xi and President Emmanuel Macron from France to finalize the details of an agreement that she later described. assistants as the flagship of her senior year in office.
For decades, the legacy of Germany’s Nazi past has kept the country from wielding tough power internationally. Instead, its foreign policy is to maintain good relations with allies and rivals to protect the exports on which the economy depends.
When Ms. Merkel steps down later this year, few expect this to change, potentially complicating President-elect Joe Biden’s plan to build a broad front to rival China. This is despite Ms Merkel’s expected election of a new president of the Christian Democratic Union on Saturday, who could eventually take her over as chancellor, with one candidate clearly having more aggressive views than her.
Under President Trump, the US shunned its allies to engage directly with China to try to improve the terms of its economic relationship with the Asian giant. But now, just as Mr Biden is calling for a collective approach to China from Western democracies, the EU and Germany, who have their own bilateral agreement with Beijing, are unlikely to look back.