Trumps backing of Brexit has disheartened EU policymakers.

Likewise, the declarations against the

euro made by the candidate for the post of U.S. ambassador to the European Union have
prompted unusual reactions from the European Parliament. President Trumps attacks on Germany,
Europes largest economy, and his refusal to shake hands with German Chancellor Angela Merkel during
their press conference at the White House, have made an unfavorable impression on European public
opinion. How could it possibly be, Europeans wonder, that our closest ally is so insensitive toward us?

It should come as little surprise that under these circumstances Europe is eyeing China. Beijing has
traditionally supported the process of European integration in an attempt to drive a wedge among the
Western allies and lessen the dominant position of the United States. Think for instance of Chinese
support for Europes space ambitions in 2003. That support coincided with one of the worst crises in
Transatlantic relations, mainly due to disagreements over the U.S.-led war in Iraq and the foreign policy
positions of the first George W. Bush administration.

When Galileo, the EU-led global navigation satellite system alternative to the American GPS, was
launched, the United States firmly opposed it, fearing a challenge to its space primacy and leadership in
key strategic and high-tech industrial sectors. China worked to prop up the European project, committing
millions of euros and becoming Galileos most important non-EU partner.

Most of the EU countries involved in the Galileo project are also members of the eurozone. When the
euro crisis broke out in 2009 and the European common currency became the target of speculative attacks
mainly stemming from Wall Street-based banks and hedge funds, it was again to China that EU
policymakers turned. Merkel and Italys former Prime Minister Mario Monti, among others, traveled to
Beijing to seek the support of Chinese leaders who eventually intervened on various occasions to reassure
the financial markets and buy eurozone bonds.

True, Beijing has primarily supported Europe for reasons pertaining to its own national interest. By
keeping up the value of the currency of its primary trade destination, China has benefited from the
competitiveness of its products, further augmenting the European Unions trade deficit with China.
Moreover, Chinese policymakers have not hesitated to set EU member states against each other when
this was in Beijings interest.

Yet when support for European integration was needed, Chinese leaders have given it. Li Keqiang, the
Chinese premier, stressed this point when he declared on April 19 that China supports European
integration and expects the EU to remain united, stable and prosperous.

At a time when European unity is under threat from populist movements, it is this kind of declaration that
EU policymakers expect from the United States. But with the Trump administration, this is not happening
-- and that absence could have serious implications for the Transatlantic alliance. On March 25, on the
60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, European Commission President Jean-Claude warned of strains
in Transatlantic relations.