{"id":20454,"date":"2026-05-10T09:20:51","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T09:20:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/20454\/"},"modified":"2026-05-10T09:20:51","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T09:20:51","slug":"could-spains-compliment-sandwich-approach-to-china-work-for-the-eu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/20454\/","title":{"rendered":"Could Spain\u2019s \u2018compliment sandwich\u2019 approach to China work for the EU?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez\u2019s diplomatic balancing act during his <a target=\"_self\" class=\"e1yy41x40 ef9u0v01 css-1ankfgb ecgc78b0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/news\/china\/diplomacy\/article\/3350026\/xi-calls-spain-jointly-resist-law-jungle-turbulent-world?module=inline&amp;pgtype=article\" title=\"\" data-qa=\"BaseLink-renderAnchor-StyledAnchor\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">visit to China<\/a> last month marked a sharp contrast with a European Union grappling with geopolitical upheaval and economic stagnation.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Sanchez pushed for closer ties with Beijing while raising concerns over a persistent bilateral trade deficit and the Ukraine war, an approach that analysts said could serve as a diplomatic template for Brussels amid its fraying relationship with Washington.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">According to Wang Hanyi, a research fellow at the Shanghai International Studies University, the Spanish leader \u201cachieved a delicate equilibrium between high-level strategic rhetoric and pragmatic cooperation\u201d.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">\u201cThe equilibrium provides a viable blueprint for European countries navigating their ties with China,\u201d Wang said.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">However, some analysts have voiced scepticism, arguing that Spain\u2019s \u201ccompliment sandwich\u201d approach of pairing praise with pointed criticism was a tried-and-tested failed model that would do little to change Beijing\u2019s behaviour on important issues.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-qa=\"BaseImage-handleRenderImage-StyledImage\" class=\"e1o401188 css-16lwkd e445x7d0\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/maxresdefault.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p data-qa=\"SCMPYoutubeVideoPreview-PreviewTitle\" class=\"css-zasw6y e1o401182\">Trump calls Chinese leader Xi a \u2018tremendous guy\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Trump calls Chinese leader Xi a \u2018tremendous guy\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Sanchez arrived in China in April following weeks of tense exchanges with Washington over the <a target=\"_self\" class=\"e1yy41x40 ef9u0v01 css-1ankfgb ecgc78b0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/topics\/us-israel-war-iran?module=inline&amp;pgtype=article\" title=\"\" data-qa=\"BaseLink-renderAnchor-StyledAnchor\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">US-Israel war on Iran<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez\u2019s diplomatic balancing act during his visit to China last month marked a sharp&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":20455,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[10970,3035,10969,335,194,66,333,556,865,3018,17,3032,2879,26,1215],"class_list":{"0":"post-20454","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-spain","8":"tag-angela-merkel","9":"tag-beijing","10":"tag-belt-and-road-initiative","11":"tag-china","12":"tag-donald-trump","13":"tag-europe","14":"tag-european-union","15":"tag-france","16":"tag-germany","17":"tag-russia","18":"tag-spain","19":"tag-tsinghua-university","20":"tag-ukraine","21":"tag-united-states","22":"tag-washington"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20454"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20454\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}