EU ‘suspends’ ratification of China investment deal after sanctions — Vincent Ni

More Cold War 2.0 stuff. Blocs forming again.

The European Commission has said that efforts to ratify a massive investment deal with China have been in effect suspended after tit-for-tat sanctions were imposed over China’s treatment of its Uyghur population in March.

“We now in a sense have suspended … political outreach activities from the European Commission side,” said the commission’s executive vice-president, Valdis Dombrovskis, on Tuesday. He said that the current state of relations between Brussels and Beijing was “not conducive” for the ratification of the deal, which is known as EU-China comprehensive agreement on investment.

The cost of "standing on principle."

The European Union and China approved a controversial investment agreement in late December after seven years of marathon negotiations. The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, gave the talks a final push; the Chinese market is especially important to German carmakers and manufacturers who have a large presence in the country.

At the time, the pact was defended as a long-overdue opening to China’s vast market that would benefit European companies....

The Guardian
EU ‘suspends’ ratification of China investment deal after sanctions
Vincent Ni