Yes, it would make no sense to ditch Russian oil and gasl only to get then independent from U.S. or other countries’ oil and gas or Chinese renewable energy tech. This is also done, however, although there may be some reason to speed up the development, and Europe definitely must revive its own RE industry.

EU finalizes the phasing-out of Russian gas imports by 2027

• Pipeline gas imports from Russia in to the EU under long-term deals must halt by Sept. 30, 2027, with a possibility of an extension to Nov. 1, 2027, depending on fulfillment of gas storage targets set by the EU. That compares with an end-2027 ban on those contracts originally put forward by the commission.
• Short-term contracts for LNG concluded before June 17, 2025 will be prohibited as of April 25, 2026. Pipeline gas brought into the EU under short-term deals will be banned as of June 17, 2026.
• To phase-out Russian energy, the deal obliges member states to prepare plans to diversify their supplies. The commission also plans to put forward a legislative proposal on phasing out Russian oil imports no later than the end of 2027.

Germany’s foreign minister to visit China next week, as EU prepares to toughen up on trade

The European Union is expected to toughen its trade stance on China next month, with signs that Germany - the EU’s largest member and economy - is aligning with the shift and that the 27-member bloc may be sufficiently united to push through policy changes that deepen ties with like-minded trading partners …

China’s weaker economy and its move up the value chain of industrial production means it is no longer the reliable market it once was for German exports.

But Germany still remains a key investment partner for China, which is struggling to attract fresh funds as its post-COVID recovery struggles for momentum …

Just read a [BBC article]https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn8e5j20g27o():

… Several residents have revealed in interviews that the fire alarm did not sound when the fire broke out. Authorities said on Friday that they had checked the fire alarms in all eight blocks and found that they were not working properly …

Me too.

Yeah, mainland China - the other China, so to say - shows a similar stance. Despite critical voices of Beijing regarding Israel’s war in Gaza, ties between China and Israel have in many ways proven resilient. Bilateral trade rose to USD 16.3 billion in 2024, up almost 12% from 2023, for example.

Despite Israel having banned Chinese suppliers from sensitive military procurement, commercial ties improved as trade data shows. In addition to U.S. companies, Chinese technology firms are a decisive supplier of Israel surveillance tech in Gaza and the West Bank (you’d easily find many reports on the web about that).

Oh, yeah, the Sanchez government’s stark light on the corruption elsewhere … perfect background (s/)

As an addition:

European partners criticize Spain’s relationship with China as the Kings dine with Xi Jinping

Germany, France, Italy, and the Netherlands have shown their concerns towards the Asian country, an attitude and positioning that sharply contrasts with Spain’s approach

… “The Italian Minister of Economy, Giorgetti, already called on the European Union to adopt a united stance against China to curb the threat to our industry. A similar sentiment exists in Germany, where the government coalition is taking the lead in reviewing the trade policy between China and Germany. The Netherlands has made a decision regarding Nexperia, and France is considering measures against Shein,” these same sources elaborate …

Regarding the case of Shein, French authorities ordered the inspection of up to 200,000 packages from the company last week to check for possible violations of regulations, a measure intertwined with the Paris Prosecutor’s decision to initiate an investigation for “dissemination of images or representations of minors of a pornographic nature” affecting this same company, as well as the Chinese platforms AliExpress and Temu …

The European Commission prefers not to comment at this time. In the past, they were very critical of Pedro Sánchez’s government, especially when the Prime Minister visited China and requested not to impose tariffs on Chinese electric cars during EU-China negotiations …

@[email protected]

No, I don’t say, “at what cost” … I say the same as in my initial comment: China is far away from any leadership position when it comes to climate change. You need to read a bit more from your own post than just the headline:

While China appears to be outperforming on its peak emissions pledge, some sectors are moving in the opposite direction. Transport emissions fell by five per cent in Q3, but plastics and chemical production saw a 10 per cent rise. China is also on track to miss its 2020–25 goal of cutting carbon intensity — emissions per unit of GDP — meaning steeper reductions will be required …

In September, China announced its new 2035 target: cutting total greenhouse gas emissions by 7–10 per cent from their peak. Experts say the target is modest …

Your linked report contains practically the same content as mine, it’s just that the title appears to be a bit more positive; but that’s unjustified. China is not on track, let alone in a leadership position. Just read the links in my previous comment above.

[Edit typo.]

We could all hope that China would lead the world in climate change as the country is the world’s biggest polluter (with coal consumption still on the rise as I wrote just in another thread).

However, China’s is far away of any leadership when it comes to reduce carbon emission.

The scientists from the Climate Actions Tracker call China’s recent announcement to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 7% to 10% by 2035 as ‘disappointing’ as China - given the country’s size and economy - would need to cut emissions by around 30% for the world to be on track to the Paris goal.

According to the scientists, no country is on track to Paris, but while the EU and Brazil’s climate actions are insufficient, China and India’s are considered highly insufficient.

So it doesn’t look like leadership.

That leads the UK in the wrong direction.

Contrary to that, the EU is set to ban Chinese universities from half of Horizon Europe, including health care and defense research in the 2026-27 research programme. Here is a paywalled report on it or the original EU Horizon draft paper (opens pdf) stating that, “Legal entities established in China are not eligible to participate in Innovation Actions in any capacity.”

In 2024, Spain exported USD 7.7 billion to China, while Spain imported USD 46.6 billion from China (according to the Comtrade database). This resulted in a trade deficit of USD 39.9 billion, slightly higher that in 2023 and the highest in Spain’s trade history with China.

Beijing apparently applies the same playbook with Spain as with all other countries.

What does Madrid strengthen?

Carbon Brief made its analysis based on emission data by the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics, just read the report. This data is skewed and highly biased.