Sharp EU-China differences over trade, Ukraine war leave little room to mend frayed ties

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Two months before Donald Trump’s return to the White House, some speculate that the European Union and China could patch up their frayed ties in a bid to avoid a multi-front trade war.

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In Brussels, however, officials believe they are a million miles from a detente: the sides continue to clash on issues from trade and geopolitics to hard security and China’s ties with Russia. Instead, the grievances are piling up.

In the latest flare-up, a Chinese cargo ship, the Yi Peng 3, has been detained by the Danish coastguard for two days in the Kattegat, a maritime strait off the Nordic country’s coast.

A Danish naval patrol vessel (right) monitors the Yi Peng 3 off the Jutland peninsula on November 20, 2024. Photo: EPA-EFE
The incident closely mirrors a case last year whereby a Chinese-owned ship cut through a Baltic gas pipeline. In August, the Post exclusively reported that Beijing had admitted the Newnew Polar Bear ship accidentally destroyed the infrastructure during a storm.

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