Phil Noble the photographer has just snapped history

Ooft, French foreign minister: "The European Commission should never have attended today's "Board of Peace" meeting in Washington, as it had not received the Council's mandate to do so."

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Wednesday he would seek "strategic partnerships" with China during a trip next week

German exporters call for 'trade NATO' to combat Trump's tariffs "If tariffs are used as a political weapon, Europe can take joint countermeasures," said Dirk Jandura, president of the Federation of German Wholesale, Foreign Trade and Services

French President Emmanuel Macron said the free speech defence of social media platforms is “pure bullshit,” pushing back against a key foreign policy goal of Donald Trump. www.bloomberg.com/ne...

A leaked draft of the EU’s upcoming Ports Strategy proposes tighter scrutiny of foreign investment and control regarding maritime infrastructure, making Brussels the latest source of pushback against China’s sprawling global ports network.

So despite the EU saying they don't agree with the premise of the Board of Peace, a majority of EU member states will be represented tomorrow (14) + the EU itself Very strange way to show that you disagree with something

I'm an Arsenal fan. I always listen to podcasts to send me off to sleep. For obvious reasons, football podcasts are now out of bounds - at least for a week. But with news and geopolitics also so grim, where can I get soothing yet interesting podcasts?

Backlash in Brussels: Commissioner Dubravka Šuica is under fire for her decision to attend the first formal gathering of the Board of Peace. France, Belgium, Spain, Ireland, Slovenia and Portugal are among those who have raised objections. Story with Maia de la Baume and @maredgwyn.bsky.social.

Shot: Brussels plans to force EV makers wanting state support to ensure at least 70% of components are made in the EU Chaser: Plan rejected by 9 commissioners + Ursula von der Leyen (!) via Rob Francis

The European Commission's buy Europe package is so unpopular even the boss is voting it down! Now kicked into March, Rob says

Breaking! Brussels celebrates Chinese new year by opening explosive new probe into Shein that could see the platform banned from the EU over sales of "childlike sex dolls", among other misdemeanours

"Idea that VDL'd be 'v much reassured' by Rubio’s remarks-at a moment when the US has declared itself a threat to Europe-is just real boot-licking nonsense; a betrayal of European citizenry. It’s not just VDL. Elites room gave Rubio a mass standing ovation" www.un-diplomatic.com/p/bootlickin...

As transatlantic divorce plays out in Munich, China enjoys the silence My last dispatch from Bavaria on Beijing floating under the radar, looking for openings...

Auf wiedersehen, München The signs that greeted me on the way in and out. Germany's future - European defence + Chinese batteries?

Someone involved in Munich media operations told me Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez cancelled some interviews after a slip-up in which she said "trans-Pacific partnership" instead of "transatlantic partnership". Amazing the standards applied to some politicians that aren't to others

Kaja Kallas now talking @ Munich "Contrary to what some may say, woke, decadent Europe is not facing civilisational erasure. In fact, people still want to join our club and not just fellow Europeans. In Canada, I was told over 40% of Canadians have an interest in joining the EU"

Pedro Sanchez speaking in Munich - leans into the anti-militaristic stance that made him the anti-darling of Eurohawks "Experts estimate US alone will invest $946 billion in nukes over the next decade, enough to eradicate extreme global poverty. In my view, this is a mistake"

The Rubio speech was not a detente. It was the JD Vance message delivered with velvet rather than boxing gloves (h/t @fbermingham.bsky.social) He signalled 0 actionable compromises to the EU other than implicitly asking Europe to close its borders / round up migrants (and then the US offers what?)

Wang Yi and Merz have met on the sidelines of Munich, ahead of Merz's trip to Berlin + Hangzhou on Feb 24

Wang Yi in Munich on Ukraine talks "Europe should not watch this from the sidelines. Right here in Munich last year, the US had started engagement with Russia and Europe seemed to be watching from the sidelines. Europe should not be on the menu, but should be at the table."

Munich being treated to another civilisational tirade from the US - this time from Marco Rubio "We do not seek to separate but to revitalise an old friendship and renew the greatest civilisation in human history"

“If we do not stick together, then we are screwed" My wrap piece from yesterday's Munich Security Conference, leading on the Franco-German front towards China - with some fresh tidbits on Ukraine-China towards the end

Rather pointed message from Wang Yi to French & German foreign ministers from Beijing's readout: "Europe's challenges do not come from China."

Catching up with AOC's late slot in Munich last night. Asked if we're in a post-order world "In a so-called rules-based order, the rules for whom? Because for all too long, the rules only applied to the US, Europe, its allies; we'd carve out exceptions for the Global South..."

We have a strange situation where AOC is on a Munich panel with Czech President Pavel (ex-Nato general), leader of European Parliament centre right Manfred Weber (whose EPP at times voted with far right) & Daiana Fernández Molero, whose party in Argentina has aligned with Milei

Interesting little Munich tidbit. The German and French foreign ministers will meet Wang Yi together in just over half an hour. Idea is to present a common, EU centric front #msc2026

Big words from Merz in Munich The Msc motto, under destruction " probably means international order based on rights and rules is currently being destroyed. but I'm afraid we have to put it in even harsher terms. This order no longer exists"

Just in: Wang Yi meeting Marco Rubio on the side-lines of Munich Security Conference - their second meeting. Last year there was no high-level US-China talks here. Comes ahead of Trump's expected China trip in early April. (pic from Reuters wire)

🚨Ukraine FM Sybiha already met Wang Yi, who has arrived in Munich from Hungary "China ⁠can play an important ‌role in bringing about a just peace for ‌Ukraine," he told Ukrainian ⁠TV ⁠ "We ⁠appreciate China's support for Ukraine's ⁠territorial integrity and sovereignty"

China Table reports Merz China trip from 24-27 will see him "accompanied by largest business delegation since Angela Merkel’s first term in office in the late 2000s" Merz will be joined by a 30-strong business delegation, compared to 12 for Scholz trip briefing.table.media...

Greetings from Munich. #MSC2026 kicks off today - here's what I will be watching. Friday (local times) 1.45pm: Merz 2.30pm Kallas (on panel "The International Order Between Reform and Destruction" with Saudi FM and US UN ambo Waltz 5.30pm Pavel, AOC & Weber panel on populism

✈️🇩🇪 I am Munich bound this morning to cover the security conference again #msc26 Hit me up for a chat if you're also in town and keen to talk Europe, China, the unravelling global order and great-power rivalry...

Chinese Weibo account Yuyuan Tantian - linked to official CCTV - says Beijing to "resolutely retaliate by directly imposing 'reciprocal tariffs' on EU products" if EU "unilaterally imposes tariffs on Chinese goods" Could also consider anti-dumping/subsidy probes on French wines

Breaking news: Dutch court upholds decision to effectively seize Nexperia's European arm and suspend Chinese management. Blow for Wingtech: investigation now open into the company's "policy and affairs"

The Chinese captain of a HK-registered cargo ship pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to criminal damage of a Baltic Sea gas pipeline that was forced to shut down after a leak. Wan Wenguo, has been in custody in HK since May 2025, accused criminal damage

Exclusive Cold shoulder: China, EU in diplomatic stand-off ahead of Munich Beijing has frozen out the EU’s envoy & snubbed its biz lobby, EU quietly boycotting China’s envoy in return, Wang Yi is Munich-bound with no locked‑in meeting with Kallas

This will be a big draw in Munich this week Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez set to take the stage and lay out what her "progressive foreign policy" means in Europe.

Headlines from the frontlines of late-stage capitalism

Some brutal charts in the new Rhodium Group note, updating their previous research on Germany and China Shock 2.0 Food for thought ahead of Merz's trip to China in 2 weeks.

Confirmation that Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi will be at the Munich Security Conference later this week - stopping off in (you guessed it) Hungary on the way.

The far-right AfD is now invited to Munich Security Conference, reportedly as organisers are afraid of upsetting Trump “Invitations were issued as we made an impression with contacts to the Americans,” said Heinrich Koch, one of 3 AfD MPs to be invited

There we have it, the first price undertaking deal in the EU-China EV saga The European Commission has just accepted a tightly controlled price undertaking for one Chinese‑built VW Group EV model – the CUPRA Tavascan – instead of applying full countervailing duties.

Euronews "has recently explored opportunities in China, including sponsorship deals with the state-owned channel CGTN", Euractiv reports www.euractiv.com/new...

A French government-linked strategy body on Monday urged the EU to impose a 30% tariff on Chinese imports, warning Beijing poses a “systemic threat” to Europe's industrial base. www.euractiv.com/new...

Fascinating post from the Cross Purposes newsletter on Chinese views of EU economic security Xin Hua at Shanghai Int. U: "EU decision-makers now see the prolonged Ukraine crisis + US-China rivalry indicate economic warfare is becoming a central form of geopolitical conflict"

I had a long chat with Luuk van Middelaar – one of Europe’s sharpest political thinkers – and his verdict is stark: Trump’s 2nd term is blowing up 80 years of transatlantic certainties and dragging the world back into a harsher age of great‑power bargains and spheres of influence

Sjoerd Sjoerdsma, sanctioned by China in 2021 in the tit-for-tat over human rights violations in Xinjiang, is set to be the next Dutch minister for trade

Hong Kong court jails pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai for 20 years