Europe

The United States and the European Union have unexpectedly announced a new united front against China, setting up a top-level dialogue to be led by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and EU foreign-policy chief Josep Borrell.

A videoconference summit this week between leaders from China and the European Union had a wide-ranging agenda including trade, climate change, cybersecurity and the COVID-19 pandemic, but it ended without agreements, or even a joint statement.  

In a report published earlier this month, Andrew Small of the European Council on Foreign Relations argues that the EU’s engagement with China will henceforth have a new purpose: to structure the Sino-European relationship in a way that reduces Europe’s dependence on Chinese trade and investment.

Beijing’s handling of the pandemic has changed long-standing European assumptions about its reliability as a crisis actor and its approach to the European project.

A revised report shows how Beijing reacts swiftly and effectively to tamp down Western criticism of its pandemic response.

China is continuing to under-report the true levels of deaths from Covid-19, national security officials in London and Washington believe.

The virus started in China, of course, but narratives of how it went from epidemic to global pandemic often leave out a crucial element: the role of Europe.

People in some of Europe’s largest cities are adjusting to a new way of life as governments in France, Spain, the Netherlands and others joined Italy in imposing restrictions on tens of millions of people.

Europe is now the "epicentre" of the global coronavirus pandemic, the head of the World Health Organization says.

Italian officials have cut short the Venice Carnival as they try to control what is now the worst outbreak of the coronavirus in Europe.