ABSTRACT
After 15 years of rapidly developing ties, there were some indications of new strains emerging in the EU–China relationship. If the buzzword of the EU–China trade relationship in 2005 was textile, in 2006 and 2007 it should be trade deficit. This chapter first explains the EU's trade deficit issue with China in general terms, and then focuses on the EU's linkage strategies during the 2006–2008 period. During this period, the EU played as an offensive power as it did in 1989. The difference was that in 1989, the EU launched a political offensive imposing economic and other sanctions for the sake of human rights, while this period featured a commercial offensive with a much broader and more difficult economic and trade issues than before. The EU convinced China to agree to establish a High-Level Economic and Trade Dialogue. But the EU failed to achieve concrete market access results.
