UK-Canada Forge Ties with China, Start to Wean Off US Dependence?

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on January 29, 2026 to discuss a long-term and open partnership on areas of disagreement. (X @Keir_Starmer)

JAKARTA - German Foreign Minister (Menlu) Johann Wadephul emphasized that the relationship that began to be established by a number of European Union (EU) and Western countries with China does not indicate abandoning the United States (US).

This was emphasized amid tensions between the EU and Canada with the US. Wadephul conveyed this while giving a public lecture at the Singapore Institute of Management (SIM) Global Education, Monday, February 2.

"Welcoming President Xi (Chinese President Xi Jinping, ed.) with open arms and saying all our problems disappear right now and we will only be your big partners, that would be the wrong answer," he said, quoted by Reuters.

Wadephul said the US remains the most important partner for Europe and Germany. He added that the EU still depends on the US for its security.

Trump administration officials have criticized European countries for failing to meet NATO spending targets, and for relying too much on the US for their own defense.

A number of Western countries, such as Canada and the United Kingdom, are also considered to have ignored US criticism, by concluding trade agreements with China recently.

US tensions with Europe and Canada arose as a result of Trump's intention to annex Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory, and the threat of high tariffs to Canada.

As a result of this intention, a number of efforts are considered to have begun to be carried out to reduce dependence on the US.

On the one hand, Wadephul said that the European united response to the US claim on Greenland showed that Europe succeeded in defending its interests by setting its red lines clearly.

Wadephul also said that the EU's network of free trade agreements is "an important building block for rules-based free trade in a time of increasing protectionism and fragmentation."

He said the European Union is working to "quickly conclude" more free trade agreements in the Asia-Pacific region, including with Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, and Australia.