China’s soft power in Western Europe is declining

Significance

The deft application of soft power has cultivated closer relations between China and Europe. However, China's power to persuade or attract is now under threat as public and elite opinion in many European states is increasingly negative.

Impacts

• It looks increasingly likely that the European Parliament will not ratify the EU-China investment agreement.
• Germany’s Green Party, which has a good chance of being in government after September, wants to harden Berlin’s stance toward China.
• If Germany decides to block Huawei from its 5G networks, smaller member states will likely follow.