Source: WeChat public account "Chaoyangshaoxia" (ID: Chaoyangshaoxia)
German Chancellor Scholz's visit to China on November 4 is finally officially announced. Recently, various news about this visit has been overwhelming, especially some German media have repeatedly hyped whether to allow Chinese companies to invest in Hamburg Port Terminal, and have exaggerated that "Germany has increased its dependence on China" and "Chinese investment endangers the security of Germany's critical infrastructure", as if it is to specifically cause trouble for Scholz's visit to China.
In recent years, the good momentum of pragmatic cooperation between China and Germany has been shrouded in the shadow of the United States' "decoupling and chain breaking".
companies investing in European ports is not a rare thing. In recent years, many national ports have extended olive branches to Chinese companies in order to attract investment. This time, the "Fudi" container terminal for small shareholders is just the smallest container terminal in Hamburg Port. But some Germans insist on hyping a mutually beneficial cooperation project into a "big drama" that concerns national security. It has to be said that under the clamor of the United States' "decoupling" and "democracy against authoritarianism" against China, there are really many Europeans who have been poisoned by the United States and have been poisoned by the United States. But Europe is not short of "hunting the world" that dares to tell the truth and be fair.
German well-known media person and former publisher of Business Daily Steingart
Recently, one of the most influential media people in Germany and former publisher of Business Daily Steingart (Gabor Steingart) published a commentary article "Five Reasons for Port Trading with China" in Focus magazine is very interesting, explaining the matter and explaining it clearly. Listen to what he said.
recently, Germany has had a very fierce discussion on whether to allow Chinese-funded enterprises to invest in the container terminal of Hamburg Port. has turned away "institutional competitors" into the spirit of the times today, and at least the United States will be satisfied with it.
Americans are urging the Germans to break the policy toward China so far. Uncle Sam shouted to the Germans on the other side of the Atlantic : We need you! The German Liberal Democratic Party and the Green Party, as well as Merz (Chairman of the CDU) and Span (Vice Chairman of the CDU) nodded frequently to the United States.
In the discussion about China's acquisition of shares in the Hamburg Port container terminal, Span's words sounded like the godson of Biden and Trump . He said: "A big lesson we have learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and the energy crisis is to reduce our dependence on China."
1. Scholz's position to support free trade is hard to speak out
Washington 's "recruitment order" came to melt, and Meltz, Lindner (Chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party and Minister of Finance), and Habeck (Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economic and Climate Protection, the Green Party) responded one after another. For all parties, the "partnership" with China has become synonymous with "dependence" and is full of crises.
022 On September 13, 2022, Germany's Vice Premier and Minister of Economic and Climate Protection Robert Habeck said in an interview that Germany should not allow China to use state subsidies and other means to interfere in fair trade.
Since the outbreak of the Ukrainian crisis, the German military suddenly discovered that there were "dependence" and security loopholes everywhere. Recently, highway overpasses and even container terminals have become infrastructure that concerns national security.
html In early November, Scholz will travel to China accompanied by Siemens boss, chairman of the Federation of Industry and president of Volkswagen. Scholz is still keeping a low profile. During his tenure as mayor of hamburger , he established a stance to maintain free trade, but it is obvious that it is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain this position.has become the spirit of the times today. When purchasing goods, it is no longer about price and quality, but whether the producer's political views are in line with Western values.
2. The United States is the beneficiary of the policy of to contain China
The wind of containment against China has already swept from Washington to Berlin. The proud small and medium-sized enterprises in Germany were suddenly asked to declare export goods, and the whole world was filled with the atmosphere of protectionism .
On October 11, 2022, German Chancellor Scholz clearly expressed his support for globalization when attending the Berlin Mechanical Engineering Summit, saying that "decoupling" is a completely wrong path and that Germany must conduct trade with many countries, including China.
The economic benefits the United States has gained from its containment policy towards China are obvious. If the United States strengthens trade with friendly countries such as Canada and Mexico in the North American Free Trade Zone, as well as France, Italy, and Germany, which are members of NATO , a nearly closed Western economic cycle will be formed. Here, the US dollar dominated, Wall Street formulated the rules of the game, and Silicon Valley defined technical standards.
But Germany's national conditions are different. After experiencing the baptism of Nazi tyranny and World War , Germany began to strive to gain international understanding and develop global trade. Former German Prime Minister Brandt 's policy of "promoting transformation through proximity" was quickly interpreted as "promoting transformation through trade", becoming the golden standard in Germany's foreign economic relations, and this standard is not only applicable to the Eastern camp.
3. Five reasons for talking about interests
It is too early to sing an elegy for the policy of "promoting transformation through trade". When attending the last shareholders' meeting, Diss, CEO of the German Volkswagen Group, told the executives of the United States and the DAX companies (referring to the 30 major German companies that make up the DAX stock index) that we cannot solve the problem through "campaign".
The government and opposition politicians should at least listen carefully to the ideas of the economic community. It is time for Germany and Europe to determine their independence position. The following five good reasons will tell you why Germany should not be ashamed of talking about interests and should resist the US's "decoupling" policy.
First, the policy of "trade-promoting transformation" aimed at achieving reconciliation also changed Germany. Germany has always implemented a self-sufficiency economic model during the Nazi period. After the war, Germany relied on an export-oriented model and world-oriented enterprises to reintegrate into the world. The same free and open attitude towards strange cultures has enabled the Germans to obtain rich economic returns and pleasant cultural experiences.
A joint venture between Volkswagen and China SAIC Group, "SAIC Volkswagen", has been setting up factories in Xinjiang since 2013. In September 2022, Obomu, president of Volkswagen , said that he hopes to continue the operation of Volkswagen's Xinjiang factory.
Second, the German economy shoulders the responsibility to the country. To support its most expensive social welfare system in the world, Germany must rely on conducting economic activities abroad. Asia's labor cost advantages and the social welfare system, which accounts for a very high proportion of Germany's economy, are two sides of a coin. In other words, the peace and quiet of Germany's social welfare system is supported by China's Yangtze River Delta region.
Third, direct investment from foreign countries and foreign companies not only injects funds into Germany, but also brings orders. If the German government prohibits Chinese-funded enterprises from investing in Hamburg Port as small shareholders, some Chinese freighters may be transferred to ports such as Rotterdam , Amsterdam , Antwerp and other ports to unload goods in the future. Hamburg will lose an investor and considerable turnover.
In June 2015, Chinese sea freighters docked at the Port of Hamburg, Germany.
Fourth, exiting a country's market for political reasons will waste the assets accumulated over decades, just like we have experienced in Russia. Exiting the Chinese market is equivalent to destroying the Great Wall for the German economy, especially it will have a negative impact on the revenue of Volkswagen, BASF , ThyssenKrupp and other companies, as well as family companies as Germany's "hidden champion".
Fifth, politicizing economic and trade relations and putting security considerations above price relations, consumers are the first to be affected. For security reasons, whether it is raising prices for all commodities or only commodities with significant strategic value, it will artificially lead to supply shortages and price increases. The US's "decoupling" policy is the culprit that causes inflation .
Due to rising gas and oil prices, some Germans have begun to stock up on firewood for the upcoming winter.
4. Conclusion
When Scholz visited China, he should bring the work "National Interests" by his fellow party Klaus von Donani (former mayor of Hamburg) into the cabin and read it carefully.
The 94-year-old Social Democratic Party member wrote in his book: "German politicians should not act on China's policy. Geopolitical and economic interests are the basic background of American interests. The United States has always had a tradition of concealing its power interests on human reasons, and Germans should not be confused."
Considering this, what Europeans should do is not to part ways with the United States, but to liberate themselves from the United States.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-