EU leaders may refuse to recognise it, but decoupling from China has already started – the severance of economic ties is a core component of any ‘de-risking’ policy. The ‘de-risking’ debate in Western nations is really about how far to take decoupling before they try to end it.
Björn Jerdén and Viking Bohman say the Chinese embassy’s forceful response to its citizens being evicted from a Swedish hotel by police indicates that more friction may be in the offing between the new global power and Europe.