THE CURRENT POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EUROPE AND Essay

THE CURRENT POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EUROPE AND CHINA - Essay Example During the Cold War Era, China was the largest and most powerful ally of the Soviet Union and the EU was the largest and most powerful ally of the US during the Cold War Era. What makes these alliances all the more important and interesting is the fact that the US and the USSR were divided in terms of political ideologies. The US represented capitalism and the USSR represented Socialism. With the collapse of the USSR in the late 1980s, China did not take over the role of successor to the USSR in leading the charge against capitalism, but demonstrated a desire to buy into capitalism to a certain extent. That China would remain committed to its Socialist system and embrace change with the aid of capitalist powers such as the EU is an enigma. The EU’s role in the strategic partnership is also interesting. The EU represents and promotes international standards for human rights protection and is at odds with the standard of human rights protection in China. Moreover, the EU imposed an armed embargo on China in the 1980s, just after signing a trade agreement with China. Yet the EU has been able to form a strategic partnership with China that appears to have strengthened over the years. Therefore studying the political and economic features of the relationship between China and the EU provides interesting insights into the politics and economics of bilateralism and multilateralism. The current political and economic relationship between China and the EU is contained in a strategic partnership which was announced in 2003. The strategic partnership arose out of Communications by the European Council in 1998 and 2001both of which addressed the shortcomings in a purely economic relationship in the trade agreement between the two in 1985. Although some scholars have criticized the strategic partnership between the EU and China on the grounds that it is unclear, the relationship has survived for more than a decade. Both the EU and China have expressed satisfaction wi th the political and economic gains enabled by the strategic partnership. This research report collects reports in the literature that shed light on the strategic partnership and demonstrates that, despite its problems, it has provided both the EU and China with economic and political benefits. These political and economic benefits appear to offset any differences between the two: the EU’s dissatisfaction with China’s human rights standards and China’s dissatisfaction with the EU’s attempt to interfere with the internal affairs of China. Annotated Bibliography Algieri, F. (2002). â€Å"EU Economic Relations with China: An Institutionalist Perspective.† In Edmonds, R. L. (Ed.) China and Europe Since 1978: A European Perspective. The China Quarterly Special Issues, New Series, No. 2. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Algieri’s (2002) chapter which appears in a book on China and Europe’s relationship since 1978 provides detailed insight into the various agreements between the two and communications by the European Council on the changes that took place. Algieri’s (2002) account only goes as far as the 2001 Communication by the European Council, but does provide important background information for further research into this developing relationship. Algieri (2002) makes sense of