China in Europe: February 2025
Lu Shaye Appointment: Beijing’s appointment of Lu Shaye as special representative for European affairs in early February raised concerns across Europe. Lu earned a reputation as a “wolf warrior” while he served as China’s ambassador to France, where he notoriously claimed in 2023 that former Soviet republics “have no effective status in international law”—a statement that provoked outrage from multiple European Union (EU) capitals. At his new post, Lu is tasked with “coordination and handling of European affairs” and “consultations and exchanges with European countries and EU institutions,” according to Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun. Observers across Europe interpreted the move as a hardline signal from Beijing. “Lu’s appointment represents inflexibility on everything that matters,” warned Mathieu Duchâtel of Institut Montaigne, adding that European diplomats fear “any diplomatic meeting” will turn “into some sort of ideological confrontation.” Lu also courted controversy when he suggested in 2022 that Taiwan’s population undergo “re-education” following a Chinese takeover.
Wang Yi Hits Europe: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi launched a high-profile European tour, visiting London, Dublin, and Munich. In London, Wang cochaired the tenth round of the China-UK Strategic Dialogue, which marked the first such high-level dialogue in a decade. Following talks with Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Foreign Secretary David Lammy, and National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell, Wang touted “fruitful results” and the resumption of “exchanges at all levels,” describing “the huge potential of practical cooperation between the two countries.” Despite warm rhetoric, human rights and security tensions were evident. Lammy pledged that the UK would “engage frankly on the areas where our views differ,” including the imprisonment of pro-democracy Hong Kong tycoon Jimmy Lai, human rights, and the sanctioning of British parliamentarians. Wang also “comprehensively” outlined China’s Ukraine position, calling for “no expansion of the battlefields, no escalation of hostilities, and no fanning flames.” In Germany, he met with Chancellor Olaf Scholz and incoming Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Wang hailed Scholz’s opposition to EU tariffs as “rational and pragmatic.” Speaking with Merz, he said Germany’s friendly policy toward China is in its national interest.
Munich Conference: At the Munich Security Conference, Wang met with top European officials including EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas. In his exchange with Kallas, Wang asserted that “there is no fundamental conflict of interest or geopolitical conflicts between China and the EU” and emphasized China’s support for Europe’s peace efforts in Ukraine. Kallas stressed the EU’s openness to dialogue on “trade, economic affairs, and climate change,” while pressing China to halt exports of dual-use goods to Russia. “China is a strategic competitor,” Kallas declared at the EU Ambassadors Conference earlier in February; he also called China “increasingly assertive, globally present and competitively so.” On the sidelines of the Munch Conference, Wang’s other meetings further underscored the complexities of China’s European engagement. France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot stressed the “urgent need to return to a calm relationship” while raising alarm over China’s antidumping investigation into French cognac and brandy. Wang responded that China hoped the EU would “uphold open cooperation, support free trade, and work with China in the same direction.” He also met with the Austrian, Czech, and Ukrainian foreign ministers. In Wang’s meeting with Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský, the war in Ukraine took center stage. “I clearly emphasized that the Russian invasion has global consequences that affect the entire world,” Lipavský said.
Spain’s Balancing Act: Spain’s Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares emerged as one of China’s most sympathetic interlocutors. In a widely cited interview, Albares insisted, “Europe must take its own decisions, on its own. . . . We can have certainly a dialogue with the country that I think is our natural ally, the United States. But Europe must take its own decisions.” He highlighted China’s strategic investments in Spain’s lithium-battery sector and pork exports, calling for a China-Europe policy independent of U.S. influence.
Sanctions Blowback: China reacted furiously after the EU’s sixteenth sanctions package against Russia included Chinese firms. “We urge the EU to stop smearing China,” said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian, adding that the move is “undermining the lawful interests of Chinese companies.”
