Europe’s phoney war with China is at an end. After years of building up an improved arsenal for a trade war, Europe is now showing it is willing to get tough on Beijing.

On Tuesday, EU investigators swooped on the Dutch and Polish offices of Nuctech, a maker of security scanners, in a case that hinges on one of Europe’s longest running grievances with China — lavish state subsidies that help Chinese firms undercut European rivals.

Nuctech was once run by Hu Haifeng, son of President Xi Jinping’s predecessor, Hu Jintao, and China’s reaction was predictably seething. The raid “highlights the further deterioration of the EU’s business environment and sends an extremely negative signal to all foreign companies,” China’s mission to the EU fumed.

The timing of such an inflammatory raid seems significant, ahead of a trip to Europe by Xi next month — his first in five years, taking him to France, Serbia and Hungary — marking a definitive shift in the way that Europe is prepared to tackle its trade problems with China.

  • Victor@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    This is mind-bending politics to me. My brain can’t handle the intricacies. I barely understand what this is about.

    • nexusband@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      Basically, China pumps incredible amounts of money in to companies, so they can undercut prices from EU companies crazy - forcing the EU companies to give up. EU wants to level the playing field.

      Edit: With taxes for Chinese companies that want to sell something in the EU, like China already does as well on the Chinese market.

      There also another thing at play here: China has laws, so that foreign companies need at least 50% Chinese “shares” (it’s not just shares), basically neutering these companies and also giving away the technology to Chinese third parties. Wich further erodes the playing field, because now Chinese companies not only can produce stuff dirt cheap, they can also do it with “high-tech” stuff, without having to pay and/or do the development.

    • HobbitFoot @thelemmy.club
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      6 months ago

      Before the Industrial Revolution, Europe had an issue trading with China as Europe had issues finding anything to trade. Europe’s natural resources weren’t valuable enough and China was able to produce many manufactured goods.

      The colonization of the Americas was done in part to either get new natural resources not located in China or precious metals like silver and gold. The trade deficit got so bad that the UK and other European countries started selling opium as a way to balance trade.

      China’s reindustrialization is bringing itself back to that old status quo and the EU is trying to fight this.

      • Victor@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        Interesting. Any further details? Please explain as if I’m a high schooler. 😅🙏

        • SlopppyEngineer@lemmy.world
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          6 months ago

          High schooler. Got it.

          So you’re pals with this guy Xi. He helps you with your homework. Turns out he’s only pals with EU because he’s banging your sister, Europa, after homework is done. So when you’re at Xi’s place you want to bang his sister, but he says no. You want so say no, but then no more homework help, so you study hard to do your own homework and say hands of my sis, creep.

          Then you wait to see what happens. Maybe Xi now only bangs Hungary but she’s a dirty slut anyway.

          • Victor@lemmy.world
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            6 months ago

            lmao alright. Perfect, thank you. And finally, what are the real world sisters and the homework? 😄

              • FarceOfWill@infosec.pub
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                6 months ago

                No wait, your problem is xi is flooding the market with cheap homework so there’s no point in anyone else doing it. It’s easier to just use his that he’s practically giving away leading to everyone being dumb.

                You want to… er… do your own homework so you can grow up strong and clever.

                Ok no sorry I think the analogy is just wrong :)