This is a common space. EU podcast.

From the city of the Hague, welcome to Global Europe Unpacked, a weekly podcast about Europe's

engagement with its neighborhood and wider world.

They find it very difficult to make sense of Europe. They look at Europe and they see

fragmentation, basically. Hello and welcome to Global Europe Unpacked,

the podcast that helps listeners to understand the global trends affecting the European continent

and the growing ambition for the European Union to become a global or geopolitical power.

I'm your host, Will Murray, and in each episode we shall look at emerging foreign policy challenge

facing Europe

and how the continent can and should respond.

In today's episode, we're going to look at the EU's relationship with China before speaking

to R.D. Bowers, a sinologist and intercultural communications expert, who will help us to explore

how Europe can best handle its relationship with this emerging superpower. But first, where does Europe stand in its relationship with China?

My colleague Nina is going to help give some background.

For decades, the European Union and China have eyed each other from a distance.

Both economic giants in their own right, they saw a huge benefit in co-operating with each other,

blending their different

economic strengths in what appeared to be a win-win situation.

More recently, however, China has been acting in increasingly threatening ways.

Globally, we see increasing evidence of its military, political, and economic espionage.

And internally, its leadership has been clamping down on any signs of dissent,

threatening the autonomous status of Hong Kong and repressing any sign of resistance

...