The lightning trip to Beijing by the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, involved in controversy both in Western countries and in Germany itself, has resulted in a defense of economic cooperation with the Asian giant, despite the mistrust that Beijing arouses in the Union Europe, the United States and democratic allies.
The controversial trip was the first by a European Union and G-7 leader to China since the start of the coronavirus pandemic almost three years ago, and it came just after the re-election of Xi Jinping as head of the Communist Party. Chinese and the presidency of the country for an unprecedented third term with respect to his predecessors.
“We are not in favor of decoupling, but it is also clear to us that this is linked to fair and reciprocal economic relations, and to the question of reciprocal openness to investment,” Scholz said of German-Chinese economic relations before meeting. with his counterpart, Premier Li Keqiang. Scholz spent just eleven hours on Chinese soil due to the country's strict zero covid policy, and his first appointment was at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing to meet with President Xi Jinping.
"We meet at a time of great tension caused in particular by Russia's war in Ukraine," Scholz said before a China that claims to be neutral in this war, a neutrality that, in Western eyes, is equivalent to tacit support for the Kremlin. The German chancellor called on President Xi to use "his influence over Russia" to get Putin to end his "war of aggression" against Ukraine. Xi called for closer collaboration and working for world peace in these times of "change and turbulence", defining the current international situation as "complex and volatile", according to the state network CCTV.
The closest thing to an answer to Scholz's plea to influence Putin on Ukraine was Xi Jinping's sentences, distributed by the official Xinhua news agency, in which he called on the international community to "reject the threat of weapons nuclear" and repudiated a nuclear war that would lead to a "crisis on the Eurasian continent." At a subsequent press conference with his counterpart Li Keqiang, without question time, the German chancellor elaborated on the issue: “President Xi and I agree: nuclear threats are irresponsible and incendiary. By using nuclear weapons, Russia would be crossing a line drawn by the community of countries."
Scholz's visit to Beijing has meant a temperature assessment of the relationship between China and the West after years of tensions, but it has been carried out from the national interests of Germany, which plans to enter a recession in 2023 with a drop in GDP of 0 .4%, and now has inflation shot up to 10%. Scholz traveled accompanied by a group of German industrialists and businessmen, in a reissue of the format of visits to China by her predecessor, Christian Democrat Chancellor Angela Merkel, who during her 16 years in power made twelve trips to that country.
Traveling with Scholz were, among others, senior executives from the automobile companies Volkswagen and BMW, the pharmaceutical companies Bayer and BioNTech, the chemical company BASF, the electronics company Siemens, the sportswear company Adidas and the Deutsche Bank.
This format had drawn criticism in Germany and some Western countries. To refute them, the person in charge of Volkswagen in China, Ralf Brandstätter, came out in defense of the chancellor's trip, thus emphasizing even more the controversial economic aspect of it. “In Europe and in Germany, many believe that this visit is inappropriate; for me, it is not the case. Dissociation cannot be a serious option for the two countries. China is Germany's most important trading partner," Brandstätter said in a statement.
However, the main criticism of the analysts is that Germany risks repeating the error of its pro-Russian policy: after the energy dependence on Russian gas, brutally revealed by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Putin's 'energy blackmail', now it would be propping up, in the most immediate economic interest, a new dependency on Chinese technology. The Federation of German Industry (BDI) itself called this week to redefine relations between Berlin and Beijing within the framework of the new vision of the EU, which last October proposed to review its policy towards China to reduce economic dependence.
For the hosts in Beijing, Scholz's visit represents a boost of understanding towards the renewed Chinese leadership of Xi Jinping, who seeks to strengthen relations with the outside world after consolidating himself in power with his unprecedented third term. Xi's message to the visitor was that business will go well with these premises: "China and Germany must respect each other" and "resist interference together" in their relationship, he said in a veiled allusion to the attitude of other Western countries. "We hope that Germany will follow a positive policy towards China," Xi said, again quoted by national CCTV television.
Issues such as respect for human rights and minorities such as the Uyghurs have flown over the visit, among previous complaints from Western NGOs.
At the press conference after his meeting with Prime Minister Li Keqiang, the German chancellor assured that in the talks he had raised the issue of Taiwan, an island that China claims as its own territory and on which it has used force. “Like the United States and other countries, we are following a one-China policy. But I have made it equally clear that any change to the status quo in Taiwan must be peaceful or by mutual consent," Scholz said.
In economic terms, Olaf Scholz criticized China for the unequal access to the market “very open on the European side, while China excludes many sectors; this refers to the protection of intellectual property and also to the interruption of political-economic relations”, and he underlined how important it is for Germany to “correct the imbalances” in trade relations between both countries.
