China
Olympic boycott + EU instrument against China's trade practices
Dear reader,
Occasionally, strange "coincidences" can occur in geopolitics. For instance, Lithuania has just disappeared from China's customs system for a few days. Curiously, trade is interrupted with the same country that recently turned to Taiwan and thus stood up to the People's Republic. There was talk of a technical error. It is so thinly veiled that it can only be read as a message to Vilnius. Amelie Richter took a closer look at the conflict between the Baltic EU nation and China. Beijing provides a prime example of the potential use of the EU's new instrument against economic coercion.
Whether any "technical errors" will also occur in the diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics by the US, in other words, whether the US will have to fear severe consequences, remains to be seen. However, Beijing has already announced "firm countermeasures". Felix Lee reports about the reactions to the boycott from Beijing and political Berlin. In Germany, there is sympathy for a boycott among the Greens, but the coalition partners SPD and FDP are far more cautious.
Your
Nico Beckert
