Pedro Sanchez's recent trip to China is misleading: While the Spanish prime minister attempted to play the card of rapprochement with Beijing in response to decisions by US President Donald Trump, Europeans mainly fear bearing the brunt of the trade battle between the world's two main powers. Few are willing to extend a hand to Beijing to help resist Washington's wrath.

On Friday, April 11, Chinese President Xi Jinping welcomed Sanchez to the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in the west of the capital for his second visit to the country in seven months, where he floated the idea of deeper relations with China if it "responds to European requests for a more balanced relationship." His host took the opportunity to attempt to forge a common Chinese-European front against the Trump administration's tariffs. He said China and the European Union (EU) must fulfill their responsibilities, jointly defend economic globalization and the international trade environment and collectively oppose unilateral acts of coercion.

Europeans are not there yet and view these overtures with great suspicion. "We must keep in mind that the entire set of disagreements we have with China does not change at all with Trump's arrival," noted a European source. "Nuisances persist, such as Chinese production overcapacity, public subsidies or our trade deficit. It is not possible to shift toward China to compensate for difficulties with the United States, as the problems between the US and Europe have no solution in Beijing, whether it is commercial issues or the security guarantees Europeans demand in the context of the war in Ukraine."

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