Finbarr Bermingham

As a chaser to that, Merics boss Mikko Huotari has just returned from China he says on LinkedIn - his second trip since the broader easing of sanctions on EU lawmakers

Don't believe sanctions on Merics have been officially lifted

www.scmp.com/news/ch...

China has lifted sanctions on six British MPs and peers, Starmer says The prime minister says a travel ban and other restrictions "no longer apply" to six current parliamentarians.

Sanctions news:

Starmer says China has lifted "all restrictions" on six current members of the British Parliament, after talks with President Xi Jinping.

Right. I see a lot of these cases for a pivot to China but I really haven't seen a material and logical explanation of what Europe would get from it, apart from vague arguments around "autonomy" and (maybe) some investment.

How Europe Lost Can the continent escape its Trump trap?

But those are two separate things...if their whole point is to tone things down with China in order to distinguish the EU from the US, then conflating Nato and the EU doesn't add up to me.

Because why would the US agree to do that with Nato?

Catching up with last issue of Foreign Affairs. Nathalie Tocci & Matthias Matthijs recommend a new EU approach to China, but what they propose doesn't make sense to me

They say EU could get China to stop sending dual use to Russia, if Nato cancels engagement with Asian partners

Joint statement on upgrading relations between the European Union and Viet Nam to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership 1. The European Union (EU) and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam (Viet Nam) (hereinafter referred to as “Both sides”) confirm the importance of a partnership based on common interests and shared valu

The EU has upgraded its ties with Vietnam to a "comprehensive strategic partnership"

"Both sides emphasised the importance of maintaining peace and stability in South China Sea. Both sides reaffirm their full respect and adherence to international law"

UK-China border security deal to help disrupt small boat supply lines People smuggling gangs will be dealt a further blow with the Prime Minister expected to launch a border security agreement with China to tackle the flow of Chinese made small boat parts.

This is what Starmer asks for in return for the mega-embassy? Weird use of leverage

PM to strike border security pact in China to disrupt supply of small boat engines. Over half small boat engines used by people smugglers in English Channel made in China

China’s ambassador to Australia says plans by the Albanese government to remove the Port of Darwin from Chinese ownership will put at risk future trade growth and force an intervention by Beijing.

These calls usually happen before there's a higher-level meeting, so I guess Wang will meet Barrot at Munich Security Conference

He says "China and the EU are partners, not adversaries

This is proven by his claim that "China and the EU share similar or identical positions on many issues, including promoting a multipolar world"

Wang Yi spoke with Macron's sherpa Bonne today, some pointed (predictable) messages on sovereignty &multipolarity

"As independent & sovereign major countries, China and France should strengthen communication and coordination to jointly inject valuable stability into the world"

Opinion | This Theory Explains Trump’s Baffling Foreign Policy

1/From Greenland to Venezuela to tariffs, Trump foreign policy baffles leaders and readers. Why? Because it is not about national interest but those of insider elites. To understand and manage, you have to name it: what @segoddard.bsky.social and I call neo-royalism.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/26/o...

This is the polling trend for Denmark’s upcoming election with the left-leaning bloc in red and the right in blue.

Notice anything happening recently around the time Trump began increasingly threatening Greenland?

Full speech here, goes into lots of detail on defence readiness, Nato and need for more European integration

Brief line on China

"China remains a long-term challenge: it poses a risk to our economic model, threatens countries in East &South China seas, supports Russia’s war on Ukraine. In this regard, China is not the only one"

(means buying Russian oil & supplying critical parts)

Her school used a bell system to tell the time:

"The first bell was the signal to go to the class. The second was a warning. And the third meant you were late and there would be consequences. We are now dangerously close to the third bell"

Kallas: the "virus" of coercive power politics has spread:

"The risk of a full-blown return to coercive power politics, spheres of influence and a world where might makes right, is very real. Since we last spoke here, the virus has started to spread."

Kallas: "It means that Europe must step up – no great power in history has ever outsourced its survival and survived.

These developments put a severe strain on the international norms, rules and institutions enforcing them that we have built over 80 years."

She says the US "will remain Europe’s partner & ally"

"But Europe need to adapt to the new realities. Europe is no longer Washington’s primary centre of gravity"

Aligns with Carney on permanence: "This shift has been ongoing for a while. It is structural, not temporary"

Kaja Kallas this morning with a tacit endorsement of Mark Carney's "useful fiction" Davos moment

Kallas: "Carney hit the nail on its head... it's time also for Europe to take down its sign. To acknowledge that this tectonic shift is here to stay. And act with urgency."

European leader spoke of shock at Trump’s state of mind after Mar-a-Lago meeting The Slovak PM, a Trump ally, told leaders at last week’s EU summit he was concerned about the way the U.S. president spoke to him, European diplomats said.

Slovak PM Fico, one of the few EU leaders to frequently support Trump, told fellow EU leaders he was concerned about the president’s “psychological state"

Fico used the word “dangerous” to describe how Trump came across during their Jan 17 meeting

Bloody hell - should say "seriously damaged" in the first post ☕️😴

One for European leaders and politicians to note: 52% of those polled said the "ability to oppose Donald Trump's interference will be a determining factor" in their next elections.

This figure is, unsurprisingly, highest in Denmark.

73% of EU citizens polled think that when it comes to defence, Europe "must now rely solely on itself, without counting on the support of the United States"

51% now think Donald Trump is "an enemy of Europe"

In Denmark, Trump ranks just behind Putin on a 1-10 rating of how much risk he poses to your country (Putin on 6.9/10, Trump on 6.6)

Across the board, Trump now seen as more of a risk than Xi Jinping (Trump 5.4/10 vs Xi 4.3/10)

A month ago just 10% thought the US would start a war with their country, now it's up to 21%. China is down from 14% to 9% while Iran remains at 18%.

Figures all from the new Eurobazooka from Le Grand Continent

legrandcontinent.eu/...

Greenland episode has seriously US image in Europe

Just 18% of EU citizens polled think Europe should align with the US in great power rivalry with China. 52% now want it keep the same distance between the 2

64% said US foreign policy is defined by "colonisation & predation"

Spectre of EU-US work on China was even used as a stick by US diplomats in pre-the US election

My report in Oct 2024: Commission *asked* US diplos to lobby capitals to vote for EV duties or its "ability to do a deal with Trump involving China policy would be severely diminished"

EU ministers court Trump on joint China policy, even as public scepticism grows European officials lobby American counterparts to ‘push back’ on Beijing together, while German poll shows wariness towards Washington.

As recently as November when Lutnick & Greer came to & Foreign Affairs Council, EU ministers were dangling the China carrot

Lutnick told reporters “If they can come up with a balanced approach [on digital rules] we will, together handle the steel issues"

Trump:

"We want a piece of ice for world protection, they will not give it. We've never asked for anything else, we could have kept that piece of land, we did not. So they have a choice. You can say yes and we will be very appreciative, or you can say no and we will remember"