Sebastian Contin Trillo-Figueroa

#Europe's castle summit pledged to address in 2027 a crisis now in its third decade. Uncompetitive energy, regulatory paralysis, and fractured sovereignty leave the #EU structurally outpaced by rivals who act in months, not mandate cycles. asiatimes.com/2026/03/eus-bu…

Sebastian Contin Trillo-Figueroa argues that Europe’s reliance on Chinese supply chains creates “hostage interdependence,” leading Brussels to favor managed cohabitation over confrontation. @s_contin chinausfocus.com/foreign-policy…

Today, the difference between news cycle - structural pattern means everything in #geopolitics. That’s why research-based analysis matters. With @FranzJessen, we dissect what happened in the last EU elite’s “retreat” for @asiatimesonline asiatimes.com/2026/03/eus-bu…

@s_contin, AsiaGlobal Fellow 2022, writes in the @SCMPNews that Germany's outreach to China marks pragmatic economic reckoning amid US tensions—not a full pivot—highlighting Europe's push for trade resilience and independence. scmp.com/opinion/world-…

Sebastian Contin Trillo-Figueroa (@s_contin) writes that #Germany’s outreach to China shows a reckoning, not a shift. Friedrich Merz realises that while China poses a long-term economic challenge, the United States is currently the more disruptive partner. scmp.com/opinion/world-…

@fbermingham Many thanks for sharing this @fbermingham! And congrats on your impressive and insightful work, among the strongest contributions in the China-EU field🙏

"Germany isn't choosing China over US; it's attempting to manage simultaneous dependencies under diminished leverage. The room for manoeuvring has narrowed, but within that space, the sequencing of visits, the calibration of rhetoric & pursuit of economic safeguards still matter"

Today Atlanticist German Chancellor Merz lands in Beijing for visiting Xi Jinping. Possibly, Merz travels to China because Germany no longer has the margin to pretend it still has a choice. My analysis in full for @SCMP_Opinion scmp.com/opinion/world-…

Had the opportunity to analyze the “China’s Global Fishing Offensive” report from the Select Committee on the Strategic Competition between the U.S. and the Chinese Communist Party, for @elconfidencial Thanks to @marscascado for the invitation! elconfidencial.com/mundo/2026-02-…

The apparent China-Europe thaw rests on a simple exchange: Europe is locked in #HostageInterdependence, tied to Chinese supply chains it cannot replace, and China still needs a EU market that absorbs volume. For @ChinaUSFocus: chinausfocus.com/foreign-policy…

EU needs political adults, not feckless children, in Trump era asiatimes.com/2026/02/eu-nee…

This is not a call for saviors. It is a demand for adults. For @asiatimesonline, I contend that the core EU problem is their political class. Leadership renewal is unavoidable. asiatimes.com/2026/02/eu-nee…

Es un buen ejercicio (para constatar la vanidad y el poco respeto al equilibrio institucional por parte del personaje) comparar los tuits que ha colgado Ursula von der Leyen en su visita a la India con los de António Costa.

Sebastian Contin Trillo-Figueroa (@s_contin) writes that instead of outsourcing its defence capacity to the US and limiting economic ties with #China, the #EU should focus on building leverage scmp.com/opinion/world-…

Like it or not, Europe’s survival as an independent power depends on its readiness to impose costs on the United States while reopening a sustained channel with China. For @SCMP_Opinion, I argue that the failure lies less with Trump than with EU leaders. scmp.com/opinion/world-…

Sebastian Contin Trillo-Figueroa argues that Washington’s merger of state authority with private interests has turned the U.S. into a “conglomerate of private power,” and Beijing is already adapting to this new model of governance. @s_contin chinausfocus.com/foreign-policy…

Encouraging! to see the concept of “orbital bipolarity” gaining traction. @BrianWongOPR engages with it thoughtfully in his last article, with a useful analysis for understanding China-France relations and Europe’s broader positioning #OrbitalBipolarity chinausfocus.com/foreign-policy…

Lovely dinner and wide-ranging conversation with Ronald Llamas, Franz Jessen—among the EU’s sharpest minds on Asia, Alay Llamas, and former Presidential adviser Michelle Roxas Manlapaz. Ronald is a veteran Philippine former Minister and top-level political strategist.

What happens when the Trumps go shopping in China? A prediction for 2026: the #Trump family will do business in #China. Not despite #geopolitics tensions, but because of them. Full argument in a piece for @ChinaUSFocus : chinausfocus.com/foreign-policy…

Taiwán teme ser sacrificado tras el precedente de Ucrania. En un reportaje de investigación de @larazon_es, sostengo que “Taiwán protege su industria de #semiconductores como secreto de Estado, su supervivencia depende de ello. Gracias a @marscascado! larazon.es/internacional/…

🎙️ 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐏𝐨𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐄𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐝𝐞 In this new episode of the #EuropeanGuanxiPodcast, we welcome Sebastian Contin Trillo-Figueroa to examine the EU-China technology rivalry through the #Nexperia case. Link: youtu.be/FHVfWkbAbKc?si…