The European Union held two important summits with two Asia-Pacific powers on 23 and 24 July. The first was when the Japanese government hosted the 30th Japan-European Union Summit meeting in Tokyo. The following day it was the turn of the Chinese government to organise the 25th China-European Summit in Beijing.
The two summit meetings were the occasion for the EU to underline the importance it attaches to growing cooperation with Japan and China and to express European aspirations for closer cooperation with Japan and China, separately, in a changing world.
The EU was represented at the two meetings by Antonio Costa, president of the European Council, Ursula Von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, and Kaja Kallas, high representative of the EU for Foreign and Security Policy.
The agendas covered all aspects of bilateral relations from the strategic, in the case of Japan, to the political, trade, climate change, and global challenges. In both meetings, the high-level EU delegation raised what it called the “war of aggression” of Russia in Ukraine, as well as the questions of North Korea and Taiwan.
The question of cooperation in the field of security and defence was paramount at the Tokyo summit, where the two sides committed to cooperate closely to implement the Japanese-EU Security and Defence Partnership in areas that cover cybersecurity in order to counter hybrid threats and to promote disarmament, nuclear non-proliferation, and peace and security. They also agreed to launch the Japan-EU Defence Industry Dialogue.
Japan and the EU committed to contribute to maintaining and strengthening a stable and predictable rules-based economic order. The Japan-EU Summit also underlined the importance of advancing regional peace and stability in the Middle East, while reaffirming the two sides’ commitment to achieving an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and supporting the pursuit of a lasting and sustainable peace in the Middle East based on a two-state solution.
They strongly condemned the deterioration of the situation in the West Bank, a formulation that implies a certain rejection and opposition to the violence used by Israeli settlers against the Palestinian population.
If the Tokyo summit unsurprisingly proved to be plain sailing between two strategic partners, the 25th China-EU Summit on 24 July in Beijing was rather different. According to the UK newspaper the Financial Times on 17 April, China seeks a reset in its relations with the EU in the midst of the trade war unleashed by US President Donald Trump.
This reset would need to overcome deep differences with the Europeans over China’s huge trade surpluses, barriers to accessing Chinese markets, and Beijing’s support for Russia in its war in Ukraine, a war that the three most senior EU officials called “Russia’s war of aggression” in their meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, the newspaper said.
Before setting out for the meeting in the Chinese capital, Von der Leyen told Chinese Premier Li Qiang some weeks ago that China and the EU should work together to provide “stability and predictability” for the global economy, a position that begs the question of whether this will be possible without cooperation and coordination with the Trump administration.
Commenting on bilateral relations between the EU and China, one expert on China working for the research provider the Rhodium Group Consultancy, Noah Barkin, noted that “Europe’s relationship with Beijing has been plumbing new lows due to growing trade imbalances, China’s support for Russia, and a rise in Chinese cyberattacks across Europe.” He believes that against this backdrop it is difficult to envision some sort of detente between Brussels and Beijing.
However, the EU message to the Chinese leadership during the Beijing summit was that it is necessary to reiterate a joint commitment to the deepening of reciprocal engagements and that the two parties have a shared responsibility to uphold the rules-based international order and to work together to safeguard multilateralism.
The European delegation at the summit stressed its readiness to continue to engage in a constructive dialogue to find negotiated solutions to its trade relations with China. In 2024, bilateral trade between the two sides was worth €730 billion, and the trade deficit in goods stood at €305 billion. If a negotiated solution cannot be found, the EU will take “proportionate, legally compliant action to protect its rightful interests,” the delegation said. By the same token, the EU also criticised the export controls applied by the Chinese authorities on rare earths, urging the Chinese government to lift them.
As far as regional issues are concerned, the European delegation reaffirmed its One China Policy while opposing any attempts to change the status quo in the Taiwan Strait by “force” or “coercion.” It made it clear that what it called “heightened instability in the East and South China Seas” threatens regional and global prosperity and security.
The war in Ukraine figured prominently at the China-EU Summit. The Europeans told their Chinese hosts that “this war of aggression” represents an “existential threat to Ukraine and to global security.” They called on the Chinese government not to provide any material support that would help to sustain Russia’s military-industrial base.
Taking into account the close relations that tie China to North Korea, the EU stressed that the deployment of North Korean troops in Ukraine and the export of armaments to Russia by North Korea carry considerable risks to security in Europe and East Asia.
Summing up Europe’s interests in the Asia-Pacific, Kallas said that the EU must strengthen its security and defence partnerships with Asian countries despite pressures from the US administration to focus more on Europe’s domestic security concerns. She said that what she described as “democratic Asian nations” were asking the EU to remain engaged as a security actor in the Asia-Pacific region.
The two summit meetings held in Tokyo and Beijing demonstrated both the potential and the challenges facing the EU in expanding its relations with such a diverse group of nations in the strategically important theatre of the Asia-Pacific. One major challenge is how the EU will coordinate the moves it makes in this region with the United States.
The writer is former assistant foreign minister.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 6 August, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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