Janka Oertel is one of Europe’s leading commentators on relations with China, these days in her role as senior policy fellow and director of the Asia programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations. Her recent book, whose title in English is The End of the China Illusion, calls for a rethink on both Germany and Europe’s approach to relations with the world’s second-largest economy. We discussed the book’s themes in a recent conversation: a lightly edited transcript follows. Jan