November 01, 2022

What Xi’s Third Term Means for Europe, with Bonnie Glaser and Dave Shullman

By: Andrea Kendall-Taylor, Jim Townsend, Bonnie Glaser and David Shullman

With the conclusion of the Chinese Communist Party’s 20th National Party Congress last week, Xi Jinping has now secured a precedent-breaking third term as general secretary. The Congress was also notable for Xi’s moves to replace the Politburo Standing Committee with a slate of his most committed loyalists, cementing his authoritarian grasp on power. Against the backdrop of these events, E.U. leaders met last week in Brussels to discuss their approach to Beijing, raising concerns over Europe’s continued dependence on China for technology and raw materials. How has the war in Ukraine impacted European attitudes and policies toward China? Will German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s planned visit to the PRC this week pose a risk to future European cohesion on China? Bonnie Glaser and Dave Shullman join Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Jim Townsend to unpack the party congress and what a third term for Xi means for Europe.

Bonnie Glaser is director of the Asia Program at the German Marshall Fund of the United States. She was previously senior adviser for Asia and the director of the China Power Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, while also serving as a nonresident fellow with the Lowy Institute in Sydney, Australia, and a senior associate with the Pacific Forum.

Dave Shullman is senior director of the Global China Hub at the Atlantic Council, where he leads the council’s work on China. He has served as one of the US Government’s top experts on East Asia, most recently as Deputy National Intelligence Officer for East Asia on the National Intelligence Council, where he led the IC’s strategic analysis on East Asia.

More from CNAS

View All Reports View All Articles & Multimedia