The boss of Britain’s biggest drugmaker has said that the UK and the rest of Europe are falling behind China and the US in the creation of biotech firms and clinical trials of new medicines. Pascal Soriot, chief executive of AstraZeneca, said that while China had seen an “explosion of biotech companies”, and a “rapid expansion of clinical trials” that puts it ahead of the US, the UK and EU had posted declines. Although the UK is great for science research at universities and in commercial laboratories, he argued that…
Tag: European Union
Taiwan Strait: top EU diplomat calls for European navy patrols
European navies should patrol the disputed Taiwan Strait, the EU foreign policy chief has said, echoing earlier comments stressing how crucial Taiwan is to Europe. Josep Borrell wrote in an opinion piece in the Journal Du Dimanche that Taiwan “concerns us economically, commercially and technologically”. “That’s why I call on European navies to patrol the Taiwan Strait to show Europe’s commitment to freedom of navigation in this absolutely crucial area,” he wrote. Two weeks ago, China launched three days of military exercises around Taiwan – simulating targeted strikes and a…
When Macron met Xi: welcome to the new world disorder
It is perhaps no surprise that Emmanuel Macron is in the middle of another big international row. France’s president likes to stir things up. It is his penchant, his trademark foible. Re-elected in 2022 despite a disappointing first term, he has four years left to make a difference. After that, political oblivion beckons – and Macron will still be under 50 in April 2027. Maybe this ticking clock helps explain why he courts danger like a bare-chested surfer riding the waves on the beach at Biarritz. At home, Macron has…
Why China’s Leader Hasn’t Called the President of Ukraine
The last time President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine and China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, spoke, they celebrated 30 years of diplomatic ties, hailing their “deepening political mutual trust” and their people’s “profound friendship.” That was in January of last year. Less than two months later, Russia, one of China’s closest partners, invaded Ukraine. Mr. Xi has not spoken since to Mr. Zelensky, despite the latter’s repeated requests. And the “sound and stable” relationship they touted seems like a distant memory. The question of when and whether Mr. Xi will speak…
The Guardian view on China and Europe: Macron’s careless words were costly | Editorial
Four years ago, Emmanuel Macron remarked that the era of European naivety on China was over. As Andrew Small establishes in his book The Rupture, the shift was not born primarily of US pressure to pick sides – though that was unquestionably felt – but of Europe’s own dealings with Beijing. Views have hardened further thanks to China’s increasing forcefulness in foreign policy, its handling of Covid and its support for Russia over Ukraine. Last month, the EU Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, urged a “de-risking” of relations with…
Macron stands by divisive remark about US allies ‘not being vassals’
Emmanuel Macron has stood by his controversial comments on Taiwan, repeating that being a US ally did not mean being a “vassal”. At the end of a state visit to the Netherlands during which he has also faced protests over pension reforms at home, Macron appeared to reaffirm the remarks he made in an interview on Sunday, in which he called for Europe to act more independently from the US over Taiwan. “Being an ally does not mean being a vassal … [or] mean that we don’t have the right…
Emmanuel Macron heckled during state visit to Netherlands
Emmanuel Macron was heckled and jeered on a state visit to the Netherlands as he faced pressure over both raising the French pension age and his warning that Europe must not become “vassals” in a US conflict with China over Taiwan. The French president was due to give a speech on European strategic autonomy when two demonstrators against his pension changes were arrested as they ran towards him on his arrival at the University of Amsterdam. The speech, interrupted by repeated heckling, had been seen as a chance to clarify…
China as Peacemaker in the Ukraine War? The U.S. and Europe Are Skeptical.
WASHINGTON — As Xi Jinping, China’s leader, prepares to meet with President Vladimir V. Putin in Moscow this week, Chinese officials have been framing his trip as a mission of peace, one where he will seek to “play a constructive role in promoting talks” between Russia and Ukraine, as a government spokesman in Beijing put it. But American and European officials are watching for something else altogether — whether Mr. Xi will add fuel to the full-scale war that Mr. Putin began more than a year ago. U.S. officials say…
‘Danger, disorder and division’: defence review refresh sees a more hostile world
Britain’s refresh of its defence and foreign policy may mark the moment when the UK sobers up about its place in a world that it now describes as “defined by danger, disorder and division”, and increasingly tilting to authoritarianism. Gone is the optimistic Global Britain bombast of the Boris Johnson era, set out in the original integrated review only two years ago. That version championed the UK as “a beacon of democratic sovereignty” and one of the most influential countries in the world, and hailed its ability to draw on…
Biden and E.U. Leader to Discuss Ukraine and Trade Spat
WASHINGTON — President Biden is scheduled to meet on Friday afternoon with Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, and the two leaders are expected to coordinate on support for Ukraine and open negotiations over U.S. clean energy subsidies that have prompted anger among some European nations. The discussion, scheduled for 2 p.m. at the White House, will range from a potential trade deal to concerns over China’s support for Moscow, and will be a test of the trans-Atlantic allies’ ability to hold together a unified front…