Recently, the German Chancellor will visit China with three government ministers to discuss further cooperation between China and Germany, especially in the fields of climate change, transport and communications, and environmental protection. As Germany's number one trading partner, Germany's approach can be described as "honest and honest", on the one hand, it comes to China to discuss in-depth cooperation, and on the other hand, it is still following the steps of the United States to suppress China. This is not only a problem of Germany, but also a common problem of the West, where political correctness and practical interests are intertwined, and there is a serious separation on the issue of China. In the face of this situation, China must be more vigilant in preventing Western countries from tearing up the agreement.
According to media reports such as Handelsblatt and Reuters, from April 15 to 16, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will lead a business delegation to China, accompanied by three ministers: Environment Minister Lemke, Agriculture Minister Özdemir, and Minister of Transport and Digitalization Wissin. It can be seen from this "lineup" of officials visiting China that Chancellor Scholz is leading and the three ministers are dispatched at the same time, and Germany intends to harvest "big orders" in China in the fields of environmental protection, agriculture, and transportation, and hopes to return home with a lot of money and a lot of gains.
It is reported that the purpose of the German delegation to China is to expand cooperation with China in the above three areas. At a meeting between the German and Chinese governments last summer, the two environment ministers signed a statement of intent on cooperation on environmental and climate issues, while Wissing recently "spoke well" of Chinese telecommunications companies such as Huawei within the German government, calling for the inclusion of Chinese companies in Germany's 5G network construction. According to relevant data, the bilateral trade volume between China and Germany in 2023 will be 253.1 billion euros.
Although the German government's visit to China this time is luxurious, there is only one key figure missing, that is, Economy Minister Habeck. You must know that he is an important figure in charge of Germany's economic and industrial policy, and Scholz's visit is mainly to promote Sino-German economic and trade exchanges to a new level, but now the list of delegation officials disclosed by the media is missing Habeck, which cannot but be said to be influenced by a variety of factors.
First, Habeck is a well-known hardliner on China among the members of the German government, and even if Scholz asks him to visit with the delegation, Habeck may not be willing to come with him. During his visit to the United States in early March this year, Habeck made a statement, saying that if he was forced to take sides, then Germany would side with the United States, and that relations with the United States would dominate not only economically, but also militarily. If, after "showing loyalty" to the United States, Habeck goes to China for a goodwill visit, it will have the flavor of "going to Qin and twilight."
Second, Scholz wants to take the initiative to show goodwill to China this time, and of course Habeck can't bring it with him, otherwise it will give a bad impression to China, and Habeck may also "stir up the situation." China is already prepared for the United States' unilateral "new Cold War" against China, and is actively responding to it, and of course it is aware that major EU countries such as Germany are being co-opted and pressured by the United States, and their internal partisan interests, political calculations, and internal political struggles are even more complicated.
It is worth mentioning that the German government is very divided in its attitude toward China. Just last July, the Scholz government put forward a so-called "China strategy", which not only clearly positioned China as a "systemic rival", but also called China a "partner" and "competitor", and said that Germany should "reduce dependence" on China and "safeguard its own security". The German government has amended the Foreign Investment Act and the Overseas Investment Regulations for six consecutive years, and has put forward strict requirements for the review procedures and content of foreign investment, which poses great risks to the operation and investment of Chinese enterprises in Germany. But the German government has also said that these initiatives are only "de-risking" rather than "decoupling", and that they are only intended to make the German economy "more independent" from China.
It is this kind of internal contradiction and even-for-tat attitude toward China that reflects the serious division of Germany. It is not only Germany that has a split from China, but it is even more common in Western countries. In fact, this situation is divided into two categories, one is under the influence of the United States, and the European countries are the most obvious; whether they are helplessly under pressure from the United States, or they are "fooled and lame" by the anti-China rhetoric of the United States, they all reject China in their positions and attitudes, but they also rely on China in economic and trade cooperation, and doing business with Chinese enterprises is the source of livelihood for many people in these countries.
The other is that their own attitude towards China is not good, but with the gradual growth of China's economic strength and the continuous expansion of foreign trade influence, these countries have to join the ranks of "honest mouth", including politicians, many people have resistance and even hostility towards China, but economic development is indeed inseparable from China.
Therefore, it is not alarmist to guard against the collective attacks of Western countries for their own political correctness, or even to tear up the original cooperation agreement by "turning their faces and denying their accounts". The United States and some countries continue to play up the "decoupling and breaking the chain" with China, with the aim of containing and suppressing China, and also pulling allies and partners to join the "small circle" against China. For example, in April 2021, the Australian government unilaterally tore up the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between Victoria and China on Belt and Road cooperation, arguing that it was "not country-specific", which was completely "turning back the clock of history" and seriously undermining the confidence of enterprises in the two countries in investment and cooperation.
As a matter of fact, Western countries have always said that the "spirit of contract" will not be able to directly and unilaterally tear up the cooperation agreement one day, and China should be more vigilant against this. Today, when the Cold War mentality of the United States toward China is becoming more and more intense, there are not only economic "decoupling and chain breaking", but also diplomatic gangs and factions, and even smear attacks at the level of public opinion, and other affected countries have to follow up on the US China policy. In the face of this situation, China should not only strengthen the investigation and evaluation of the target countries for investment and cooperation, but also take various measures, including reducing legal risks, warning and crackdown, and countermeasures, to protect the interests of its own enterprises.