EU-China Summit

Though it didn't take center-stage at the summit, EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson's complaint in the presence of Chinese Vice Prime Minister Wu Yi about the lack of security in Chinese products revealed just how wide the rift is between both sides.

In defense, Wu Yi said that 99 percent of Chinese exports to the EU were safe. With an export volume worth some 300 billion euros ($444 billion), just 1 percent of dangerous goods was too much, countered Mandelson.

It's a familiar situation: China feels misunderstood and unappreciated. The EU then erroneously assumes it just needs to give Beijing a few tips and the country will do a 180-degree turn -- all the way down to the last rural village.

Disappointments are weighing heavy on both sides -- even though the delegates smiled for the TV cameras at the summit. The winds have turned in the EU's relationship with China. It may not quite be on the rocks, but the conflict is there.

In the past 12 months, the European Commission alone has sent China three documents with titles like "Competition and Partnership" and made particularly critical statements about its Asian partner.

A major reason is the EU's rapidly growing trade deficit with China, which is expected to rise to 170 billion euros this year. This is happening as a third of the containers routed to China from the port in Hamburg are empty.

Other points are the large-scale pirating of technology by Chinese companies and continued human rights violations.

The EU has been accusing China, with ever increasing clarity, of profiting from the openness of the European markets without ensuring fair conditions in the Chinese market.

In addition, China's image across Europe has suffered from reports of widespread industrial espionage and hacking attempts on the German Chancellery.

Europe has traditionally depended on discourse and diplomacy in its dealings with China.

The US, on the other hand, has always used pressure to accomplish its interests in China. Frustrated with a lack of results, the EU has started using a more forceful tone as well.

In Beijing, the Europeans warned that the trend toward protectionism, given the Chinese trade surplus, is becoming stronger.

The decision to create two working groups to examine the sensitive topics of trade and currency can be seen as just a timid sign of readiness to cooperate. And the EU's 500-million-euro loan for climate protection is, considering the breadth of China's environmental sins, hardly more than a gesture.

The mutual disappointment, however, will perhaps be helpful in the end: Taking a sober look at the other side can allow for solid and sustainable politics.

Matthias von Hein is the director of DW-RADIO's Chinese program (kjb)