The EU-China partnership: balancing between
divergence and convergence G. Geeraers
Are the EU and China willing and able to jointly support the multilateral system as the USA steps back
from its hegemonic role?
The EU:
- Union of nation-states
- a hybrid collective actor
- the highest level of integration among all associations of states
- feels at home with mutual interference in domestic affairs
- strong rules-based international institutions
- main characteristics: political liberalism, democracy, competitive elections, press freedom,
vibrant civil society, human rights
China:
- a strong sovereign state as a guarantor of its national independence
- strict non-interference with domestic affairs
- party leadership in the society
- are taking a more globalist orientation, to take on a greater responsibility internationally
2003: Strategic partnership between the EU and China
> high degree of institutionalization (bilateral dialogues, rather deliberative than decisional but
obliges both sides to keep on communicating)
-> Explains the resilience of the EU-China relationship
Its significance lies in connecting two key order-shapers in today’s world and more importantly, in the
management of the antagonistic quality of the relationship between actors with such different
identities.
Their relationship is mixed, it can be placed somewhere on this spectrum:
Pure cooperation < —-------------------> Unrestrained competition
Two types of trends that will decide their position on this spectrum:
- Diverging trends (pushing the relationship towards competition)
- Converging trends (promoting cooperation)
The EU-China relationship is driven by two distinct underlying logics:
divergence and convergence G. Geeraers
Are the EU and China willing and able to jointly support the multilateral system as the USA steps back
from its hegemonic role?
The EU:
- Union of nation-states
- a hybrid collective actor
- the highest level of integration among all associations of states
- feels at home with mutual interference in domestic affairs
- strong rules-based international institutions
- main characteristics: political liberalism, democracy, competitive elections, press freedom,
vibrant civil society, human rights
China:
- a strong sovereign state as a guarantor of its national independence
- strict non-interference with domestic affairs
- party leadership in the society
- are taking a more globalist orientation, to take on a greater responsibility internationally
2003: Strategic partnership between the EU and China
> high degree of institutionalization (bilateral dialogues, rather deliberative than decisional but
obliges both sides to keep on communicating)
-> Explains the resilience of the EU-China relationship
Its significance lies in connecting two key order-shapers in today’s world and more importantly, in the
management of the antagonistic quality of the relationship between actors with such different
identities.
Their relationship is mixed, it can be placed somewhere on this spectrum:
Pure cooperation < —-------------------> Unrestrained competition
Two types of trends that will decide their position on this spectrum:
- Diverging trends (pushing the relationship towards competition)
- Converging trends (promoting cooperation)
The EU-China relationship is driven by two distinct underlying logics:
