Call it a comeback: Despite its agnosticism about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, China is making diplomatic inroads in Europe from Berlin to Paris to Rome.
It could not have been easier for Chinese leader Xi Jinping. All the Communist Party general secretary had to do was muzzle his "wolf-warrior" diplomats, whose overt jingoistic zeal had run its course, scrap the draconian "zero-COVID" policy and announce China was open for business again.
Though China’s truculence under Xi’s leadership has worn on Europe, a cold war between the two sides has been and will remain unlikely. After all, Brussels and Beijing do not compete ideologically or militarily like the U.S. and China.