Is tech the main battleground as EU and US drift apart? One Chinese prediction says so

Clashes between the United States and European Union are becoming the “new normal” with competition over tech regulations at the “core”, according to an analysis published by a leading Chinese think tank.

Guo Mingxu, head of the European Economy Programme at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, cited a recent row about hefty fines imposed on US tech giants for breaching European law as an example of how the relationship was shifting from being a collaborative partnership to a transactional exchange.

His comments come amid a volatile period in US-EU relations, marked by tariff threats and wider frictions over trade and the future of Nato.

“The transatlantic alliance, once rooted in shared values, is increasingly yielding to hard calculations of interest,” Guo wrote in an analysis published on the think tank’s official social media account on Monday.

“When the unified values holding the bloc together are torn apart and double standards prevail, empty narratives can no longer restrain self-interest. Once real-world demands collide head-on, the alliance will ultimately fall apart.”

Last month, Brussels hit Google with an €890 million (US$1 billion) fine for illegally favouring its own services over rivals in search results and restricting app developers.

South China Morning Post