As EU dependency relationships adjust to changes occurring in geopolitics and world commerce, member states will explore deals with China and Russia at the expense of Washington’s preferred global order.

Germany will be at the strategic forefront as Europe’s economy and political weight continue to grow. Yet any decision made in Berlin about the future of the union will loudly reverberate in Washington and Beijing.

As a strategic partner of both the United States and China, the European Union is in a position to turn the tenuous relationship between the two into an opportunity for the Union.

Although Donald Trump’s trade wars have opened the door to China-EU cooperation, China must also remember that the EU will not be its ally on every issue.

Following the successful summit earlier in July, many observers excitedly noted the increased possibilities of cooperation between the EU and China. But does the EU have the strategic vision and commitment necessary to truly take advantage of its new relationship with China?

While the transatlantic partnership remains a priority for Europe, this should not make the EU strategically biased against China. It should urge Europe to become a more autonomous strategic actor and to negotiate its global interests from a principled position of consolidated strength.

Sometimes love just ain’t enough.

The relations between China and the European Union (EU) are crucial in the era of Donald Trump, when the U.S. administration is set to pursue America's interest first and distancing itself from global economic leadership, said European experts.

French President Emmanuel Macron is trying to advance a new kind of "offensive multilateralism." But unless the European Union as a whole embraces the cause, Europe risks becoming a casualty of China’s efforts to bend the multilateral system to its own will or, worse, Trump’s efforts to dismantle it altogether.

In the near-term, the trigger for increased China-U.S. tensions might be foreign policy-related, for example, a hardening of positions on North Korea or a maritime incident. Or it could come from the U.S. taking more punitive economic measures.