EU Agrees on New Move to Counter Economic Coercion

A new push to counter Beijing’s economic coercion. The European Union agreed to come up with an economic weapon to protect member countries if one of them gets hit by economic punishment from China. The decision follows an incident last year when Beijing cut trade with Lithuania by 80 percent. The move was viewed as retaliation after Lithuania allowed Taiwan to open a de-facto embassy in its capital. The Chinese Communist regime sees Taiwan as part of its territory, despite never having ruled it and staunchly opposes any formal relations between the island and foreign countries. Back to the new economic weapon that EU is considering, what does it involve? It would allow the EU to apply tariffs and restrict investments into countries engaged in economic coercion. But it's considered a last-ditch effort to be used only if all else fails. The economic weapon is expected to take effect this year after the EU parliament and member nations approve the measure.