Mathieu Duchâtel: The Chinese modus operandi against Europe is a similar approach to the theory of “escalation dominance”, stemming from the field of deterrence. In the absence of assured mutual destruction, the party capable of inflicting the heaviest damage is best placed to dictate the terms of an exit from the crisis. The intentional asymmetry of measures against European technology companies serves precisely to install this perception in the minds of Brussels and in the European capitals.
…There remains a question that European decision-makers do not ask. Is not Chinese domination posed as certain in anticipation? In reality, no Chinese countermeasures have been carried out to the end, which would have proved very expensive. Some Chinese interlocutors seem to be driven by concerns about a loss of access to the European market, an outward that is now irreplaceable for a number of high-value Chinese products. The Chinese bet may be playing on the cognitive terrain: seek to convince Europe that Beijing already dominates it in order to obtain a result without cost…