Merkel said it was wrong to completely decouple from China, and the German media: indicating that she will still promote EU-China cooperation after leaving office

Source: Global Times

"It is wrong to completely decouple from China, and it will cause harm to Germany and Europe." German Caretaker Chancellor Angela Merkel said in an interview with Reuters a few days ago that Germany may have been naïve when it initially cooperated with China in some areas, but should not cut off all ties in order to cope with the increasingly tense situation.

Merkel infographic

According to Reuters reported on the 18th, Merkel said, "I support the cooperation between Germany and the EU and China." We can learn from each other. During Merkel's administration, her policy of engagement with China has made China Germany's largest trading partner step by step, and reshaped Europe's stance on China, and the rapid development of China's economy has also promoted the growth of the German economy during Merkel's tenure. However, some critics claim that Germany is now "too dependent on China" and too soft on Beijing on issues such as so-called "human rights violations." Merkel's government has said that every time Merkel visits China, she talks about human rights issues and seeks to diversify trade in Asia.

Merkel also said in the interview that Germany has been consulting with China on intellectual property and patent protection issues, "involving both Chinese students in Germany and German companies operating in China." In her view, if Western countries want to actively participate in the formulation of new technology standards in the future, they must maintain the pace of innovation to fully exert their influence, but Europe has clearly lagged behind China and the United States in this regard. Still, Merkel believes Germany must protect its critical infrastructure, saying Germany's new information technology security law sets a higher bar for 5G telecom network equipment manufacturers such as Huawei. But she stressed that this does not mean that specific companies should be directly excluded from the beginning. "We need an open system in which everyone is evaluated with the same criteria."

German news television believes that Merkel's expression of views on Germany-China and EU-China relations before leaving office shows her concern about the current differences between Europe and China in many fields, and also shows that she will still promote EU-China cooperation after leaving office. At present, even if a new government of the SPD, Greens and Liberal Democratic Party, which is in the process of forming a cabinet, takes office, the main line of German-Chinese relations will not change dramatically. Deutsche Radio quoted Tritin, a senior Green Party politician with a tougher China policy, as saying on the 18th, "Germany should deepen its partnership with China." ”