chapter Problematizing “Constructive Engagement” in EU-China Policy Chengxin Pan 1 Introduction For much of the past two decades, “constructive engagement” has been a staple EU policy towards China. Promoted, for example, in the European Commission’s (EC) 1998 communication Building a Comprehensive Partnership with China, constructive engagement is said to have transformed EU-China relations into an increasingly maturing partnership (European Commission, 2003). China’s EU Policy Paper, the irst ever such Chinese policy paper on a bilateral relationship, promptly echoed this view, describing China-EU rela- tions as “better than at any time in history” (Ministry of Foreign Afairs, 2003). With booming bilateral trade, annual EU-China summits, frequent cultural exchanges, and more than 20 annual sectoral dialogues between the EC oicials and Chinese ministries, leaders from both sides routinely referred to this relationship as a “comprehensive strategic partnership.” Against this backdrop, many commentators describe EU-China relations as “broad and deep” (Shambaugh et al., 2008: 303). Indeed, the development of this part- nership seemed so promising that some scholars went as far as to speak of the emergence of an EU-China axis (Shambaugh, 2004; 2005). However, instead of evolving into a strategic axis, EU-China relations have sufered a series of setbacks in the past few years. Despite growing trade ties, not only has China yet to gain EU recognition of its market economy status, but it has also become the EU’s main anti-dumping target. his, together with the EU’s failure to lift the arms embargo imposed after the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown, has been an ongoing bone of contention between Brussels and 2 © Vogt, Roland, Apr 01, 2012, Europe and China : Strategic Partners or Rivals? Hong Kong University Press, Hong Kong, ISBN: 9789882208940