It is definitely a new chapter in superpower relations. And if you thought last week's acrimony in Anchorage between top US and Chinese officials could be dismissed as just a bit of theatre for the cameras, think again. New US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is now in Brussels on the heels of concerted sanctions against top officials blamed for the crackdown on Uighur Muslims in China's western Xinjiang province.
For the EU, it's the first sanctions on Beijing since the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. Is the bloc flexing its muscle more boldly or simply happily following the lead of a US administration that is re-engaging with its traditional allies? Either way, it is heating up. We ask about retaliatory sanctions targeting China critics in Europe and the summoning of Beijing's ambassador to Paris.
And while Blinken is in Brussels, the Russian foreign minister is in China talking up the concept of an alternative to the US dollar as the world's currency. That is a reminder of how much times have changed from the days when the Soviet Union barely did any business with the West. The interdependence today between China and rivals that are also essential trading partners is adding a whole heap of uncertainty to the current spike in tensions.
Produced by Charles Wente, Juliette Laurain and Imen Mellaz.
