ABSTRACT
This period saw the EU–China relationship walk away from the tensions in the 1989–1992 years and finally moved to a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2003. By abandoning a confrontational approach, the EU decided to adopt a soft and practical one in 1995, focused on engagement, dialogue and cooperation. This gave the EU renewed bargaining power and entailed concrete results. That is why I qualify the EU during this period a power through partnership. I divide this period into two phases: the first phase (1993–2000) when the EU decided to leave behind the confrontational policy adopted during the Tiananmen Incident and issued its first China policy paper in 1995, and established a constructive partnership with China in 1998; and the second phase (2001–2004) when the EU and China established a comprehensive partnership in 2001, and later upgraded it to a comprehensive strategic one in 2003.
