The European Union has a choice to make: It can either continue to be China’s de facto ally or show genuine strategic autonomy by confronting President Xi Jinping’s cynical exploitation. 

The urgency of this choice was made clear by a meeting last week between China’s foreign policy chief, Wang Yi, and his EU counterpart, Kaja Kallas. A former prime minister of Estonia, Kallas is a courageous politician who says it like it is. That is a stark contrast to her predecessor, Josep Borrell, who was a bumbling appeaser constantly played for a fool by China, Iran, and Russia. Still, Kallas and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen must galvanize their political union’s improved response to China’s bullying.