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With Ties in the Balance, EU and China Hold Tense Summit

Agence France-Presse

   BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - China's leaders and senior EU officials held a
   video summit Monday with tensions rising over new tariffs targeting
   Chinese firms and European disquiet at Beijing's assertiveness on the
   world stage.

   The heads of the EU's main institutions began talks on the coronavirus
   with top Chinese leaders, after Brussels infuriated Beijing by accusing
   it of a campaign of disinformation around the pandemic.

   European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission head
   Ursula von der Leyen began the summit at 0800 GMT with Chinese Premier
   Li Keqiang.

   President Xi Jinping is expected to join later.

   China and the EU both say they want to strengthen ties, but the
   relationship is tangled in a thicket of disagreements on topics ranging
   from trade and investment rules to human rights and national security.

   Monday's talks will not produce an agreement-- nor even a joint
   statement-- and a senior EU official said some high-level political
   impetus was needed to break the deadlock.

   Beijing's ambassador to the EU said last week that Monday's talks were
   a chance to make relations "more productive and substantive by seizing
   opportunities and addressing challenges."

   But he rapped Brussels over plans for tougher rules for heavily
   subsidized foreign companies, which would particularly target Chinese
   firms, saying the EU was not practicing the openness it preached to
   others.

   U.S. President Donald Trump has pursued a bruising trade war with
   China, and warned last week of "complete decoupling" while using
   derogatory language to assert the novel coronavirus came from China.

   The EU has taken a more balanced approach, characterizing China as a
   "systemic rival" and competitor but also as a partner on some issues.
   The bloc's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has urged a hard-headed
   approach.

   At talks with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last week, Borrell
   proposed a dialogue with Washington aimed at forging a common
   trans-Atlantic front against Beijing-- though he has also stressed the
   EU must pursue its own interests and not simply toe the American line.

   Human rights

   The bloc has sought to challenge China on human rights issues such as
   Tibet and Hong Kong, where European capitals are extremely concerned
   about Beijing's proposed new security law.

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