Once bound by trade, China-EU honeymoon sours over Ukraine war

Taipei, Taiwan – China and Europe may not be in a cold war, but bilateral relations are increasingly chilly. China's failure to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine, considered an existential threat to European security, is the latest and gravest in a series of challenges by Beijing to the rules-based order on which the European Union professes to operate. Reflecting a bilateral relationship centred on economics, Europe has often taken disagreements with its top trading partner China in stride. However, China's support for Russia – rooted in Chinese leader Xi Jinping's close relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin – has altered European calculations. "The sense of urgency to protect Europe from authoritarian threats wasn't as strong before as it is now. Russia's invasion of Ukraine is a game-changer," Zsuzsa Anna Ferenczy, an assistant professor at Taiwan's National Dong Hwa University and a former political adviser in the European Parliament, told Al Jazeera.