Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares beamed on Sunday as he welcomed top negotiators from the United States and China to Madrid, the fourth European venue chosen to host the talks aimed at calming their trade and technology wars.
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“Spanish foreign policy works for dialogue and agreement. Honoured by the trust of both in choosing Madrid,” Albares wrote on social media, in a post accompanied by separate smiling pictures with Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
But away from the Palacio de Santa Cruz and the latest round of talks – during which the rivals thrashed out the future of Chinese-owned social media app TikTok – there is growing anxiety about what it says about Europe’s place in a fast-changing world.
The continent is reeling from a summer in which it was bullied by the US and its demands were ignored by China.
For some, the words of the EU’s former top diplomat, Josep Borrell – who frequently warned that Europe had “the option of becoming a player, a true geostrategic actor, or being mostly the playground” – are becoming all too real.
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“It’s striking that Washington and Beijing are ironing out their trade disputes on European soil, while Europe itself is largely sidelined,” Sander Tordoir, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform, said.