CHINA/EU/FOREIGN POLICY: “European Union and Chinese leaders will gather in the EU capital Thursday [6-1-17] to strengthen ties amid increasingly tense relations with the U.S., but a brewing fight over investments bedevils their efforts to tighten economic links.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang will seek joint responses to global issues and firmer bilateral relations.
The EU and China are set to claim a quick diplomatic win on climate change—doubling down on the Paris agreement as President Donald Trump leans toward nixing the deal. They are also expected to address foreign policy issues, such as tensions over North Korea’s push to acquire nuclear arms.
But ahead of the summit, EU officials warned that progress will likely prove elusive on improving European access to the Chinese market—almost four years after Brussels and Beijing started negotiating an investment agreement.”
-Emre Peker and Natalia Drozdiak, “EU, China Trade Tensions Cloud Climate Unity,” The Wall Street Journal online, June 1, 2017 10:39am