Recently, China's high-level visit to Europe has become a headline topic in major media outlets. 2024 marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France, and the China-France dialogue has become the focus of attention of the international community. According to CCTV News, during the visit to France, the Chinese side received a high-level reception from the French government. During the tripartite talks held at the Elysee Palace, the Chinese side held in-depth friendly talks with French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. During the visit, the three sides not only expounded their views on international issues such as the Russia-Ukraine issue and the Palestinian-Israeli issue, but also conducted in-depth analysis of the contradictions between China and the EU, and reached consensus in various fields such as economic cooperation. However, at the time of China's visit to Europe, someone took action to destabilize the situation, and this discordant factor was Germany.
It is reported that after the Chinese side confirmed the European itinerary, French President Emmanuel Macron originally invited German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to participate in the talks, but was refused. Just after the top level of the Chinese side arrived in France, German Foreign Minister Baerbock openly said that Germany would send the "Baden-Württemberg" frigate to participate in the "Rim of the Pacific" military exercise in July this year, during which it would not rule out passing through the Taiwan Strait. This Taiwan-related remark is undoubtedly a great provocation to China. In this regard, China immediately gave a categorical response. Some friends may want to ask, Scholz just visited China not long ago, and China and Germany should be in a honeymoon period, why did the German government high-level provoke incidents and create contradictions at this time? In fact, this is determined by the political ecology of Germany.
First of all, Scholz's rejection of Macron's invitation is not hostile to China, but because the purpose of his previous visit to China has been achieved. Especially in the economic field, China and Germany have reached a series of consensuses, which have eliminated estrangement and contradictions, and Scholz does not need to have in-depth dialogue with China's top leaders. At the same time, France is the host of this meeting, and Scholz will undoubtedly help Macron from the side and help France strengthen its leadership in Europe. As the leader of the European Union, Germany naturally does not want to see France.
As for German Foreign Minister Baerbock's Taiwan-related remarks, this is entirely determined by the government structure of the German government. Compared with the "Iron Lady" Merkel era, the German government led by Scholz today is not monolithic, and there are many forces at the top, among which German Foreign Minister Baerbock is the standard "pro-American", he and German Chancellor Scholz have always had differences in foreign policy, and they are also hardliners on China. During China's high-level visit to France, he made remarks about sending warships through the Taiwan Strait, not only to gain a sense of presence and expand Germany's influence in the Asia-Pacific region, but also to show goodwill to the United States. Therefore, there is still a question mark over whether his remarks of "patting on the back" and "flexing muscles" can finally become a fact.
Fundamentally, the China-EU talks were extremely successful and injected a boost to the stable development of China-EU relations in the future. Although European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is also a representative of the "pro-US faction," none of the EU countries, including France and Germany, is willing to completely become vassals of the United States, still less are they willing to make sacrifices for the United States in their core interests. You know, the United States has made a lot of money in recent years in terms of "harvesting Europe". Taking the Russia-Ukraine conflict as an example, the United States forced European countries to break with Russia and launched comprehensive sanctions against Russia, resulting in a complete interruption of energy trade between Russia and Europe. Previously, European countries once fell into an energy crisis, Germany, France and other industrial powers suffered a heavy blow to industrial production, and the United States not only replaced Russia to monopolize the European natural gas market, but also induced a large number of European companies to transfer assets and industries to the United States. There are many "harvests" in this wave, and the leaders of European countries such as Macron and Scholz know it well.
Now, the estrangement and contradictions between China and the EU have been swept away and cooperation is back on the right track, which undoubtedly worries the United States. On April 25, the U.S. Department of Commerce released estimated data showing that the annual growth of U.S. GDP in the first quarter of this year was only 1.6%, far below market expectations of about 2.5%. In the face of the pressure of high interest rates, the U.S. economy is already overwhelmed, and the U.S. national debt has reached 34.5 trillion U.S. dollars.