China and the transatlantic relationship

The rise of China is one of the greatest challenges for the transatlantic relationship. European countries and the US have similar concerns regarding China, but fundamental obstacles prevent them from taking a more joined-up approach. A two-year joint project by Chatham House and the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) explored the potential for such an approach across four different policy areas: trade and investment; digital technology; climate change; and the global commons. This paper presents some of the project’s findings in those areas. As well as competing with China, the US and Europe tend to compete with each other across many of the areas covered. There remains a fundamental divergence, with the EU seeing strategic autonomy as a key goal and the US retaining an ‘America First’ vision. Effective cooperation is also hampered by different approaches to the current global order on both sides of the Atlantic. The EU largely wants to preserve it, while the US has in several cases been the driving force behind increasing dysfunction in the global trading system. While the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has brought a renewed focus on Russia within the transatlantic alliance, it has also highlighted the ability of Europe and the US to come together to face threats. Similar, strong transatlantic cooperation will be required to deal with other global challenges, including those around European and Asian security and climate change. Sustaining an effective and unified approach to China’s rise will require a concerted effort and, crucially, compromise on both sides of the Atlantic.