German Foreign Ministry’s “New China Strategy” Spells Economic Suicide

Just as German industrial companies are looking for other countries, particularly China, in which to produce what is becoming impossible to manufacture at home because of the cartel of Greens and bureaucrats, the German Foreign Ministry has released its New China Strategy. The 64-page strategy paper, presented on July 13, pays lip service to Germany’s defense of the one-China policy and to the intention to maintain economic cooperation with the Chinese. But it goes on to invalidate that with polemics and doubtful accusations about Beijing’s “espionage” and “cyberwar” practices, its “repression of human rights in Xinjiang and Hong Kong”, and its “increasingly aggressive” posture on an international scale. including its support for Russia.

All these charges, backed by flimsy if not invented evidence, serve to portray China as a “systemic rival” of European democracies controlled by the Communist Party and imposing non-European values. German companies are supposed to stop working in China, the strategy paper demands, if their partners do not respect “universal” human rights standards as defined by Germany and the EU, with the hint that sanctions could then be applied.

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said at the press conference at which she presented the strategy paper, that German companies heavily dependent on China will have to bear alone the financial risks involved. Canceling state guarantees in “risky” cases, the government will pursue a strategy of “de-risking” to reduce such dependencies.

An article in Xinhua, datelined Berlin, July 17, carries the headline, “German Expert Warns Against ‘De-risking’ or ‘Decoupling’ from China”, quotes Schiller Institute leader Helga Zepp-LaRouche, from a recent interview. She states: “There is no risk coming from China. China is one of the most reliable trade partners and economic partners.” As for decoupling, she says: “Economically, it’s completely suicidal because the German economy and the Chinese economy are so intertwined.”

And further: “Noting that the German economy is undergoing serious difficulties including the danger of de-industrialization, she stressed that Germany should focus more efforts on science and technology cooperation with other countries and one of the obvious partners is China.”