Read previewXi Jinping's claim that the US is trying to trick China into invading Taiwan is aimed at driving a wedge between the US and its European allies, experts told Business Insider.
But in addressing the issue with the EU leader, Xi was trying to counter the US narrative and undermine transatlantic relations, Scobell said.
"Also, China knows that the EU is generally ambivalent about backing the United States in a war with China over Taiwan," he added.
However, over the last few years, the mood in Washington, DC, has shifted toward greater hawkishness, Graeme Thompson, an analyst with the Eurasia Group, told Business Insider in November.
Under its One China policy, the EU recognizes the People's Republic of China as the sole legal government of China.
Persons:
—, Ursula von der Leyen, Xi, Andrew Scobell, Scobell, Craig Singleton, Singleton, Timothy Heath, von der Leyen, Graeme Thompson, Mike Pompeo, John Bolton
Organizations:
Service, European, Financial Times, Business, US Institute of Peace, BI, EU, Foundation, Defense of Democracies, Taiwan, RAND, Eurasia Group, Royal Services Institute
Locations:
China, Taiwan, Beijing, Ukraine, United States, Washington ,, People's Republic of China, EU, Taiwan Strait