Germany’s Scholz scored some major wins during his trip to Beijing, but his own government doesn’t think so
- The German chancellor’s meeting with Xi Jinping charted a path for limiting dependency on China without decoupling
- Unconvinced, however, are Scholz’s own coalition members, who want a complete restructuring of Sino-German relations
The leader of the Green Party, Ricarda Lang, called for a reduction in German dependence on China and a definition of areas “from which we keep China out”, while the Liberal Democrats (FDP) insisted on action at the EU level. “We need new regulations in the foreign trade law,” demanded the party’s vice-chair, Johannes Vogel. “We need a China strategy together with other democracies,” he urged.
What sounds like the usual political rhetoric emanating from Berlin is worrisome for Scholz as these demands were not made by the opposition but by his two coalition partners.
On the back of these political statements, the public’s view of China also seems to have changed. According to an opinion poll by research institute Infratest dimap, 49 per cent of Germans want to scale back relations with China.
Scholz had to manage a tightrope act during his 11-hour-long stint in Beijing, championing German-Sino relations while addressing concerns. And Scholz left no doubt that he rejects Xi’s policies in various areas, whether concerning Taiwan, human rights or minorities.
But neither Taiwan nor the human rights situation was a pivotal point. Rather, two other issues were at the forefront, and how these were handled can undoubtedly be considered a positive sign.
Even though neither Xi nor Li explicitly named Russia as the culprit, these statements, during a high-profile meeting with the EU’s de facto leader and chancellor of the world’s fourth biggest economy, are a success for Scholz, Europe and, indeed, Ukraine.
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Second, Scholz’s visit to Beijing will re-strengthen economic relations and create further prosperity for both sides.
Similar to his predecessor Angela Merkel, Scholz was accompanied by a business delegation – a who’s who of German enterprises, such as Bayer, Volkswagen, BMW, BASF, Siemens, Merck, Adidas, BMW, Deutsche Bank and BioNTech.
However, the choice here is not a binary one. Between decoupling and dependency is plenty of room for cooperation and economic potential that both sides can benefit from, as the last few decades have impressively shown.
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From China’s point of view, too, the visit ought to be considered a success. Chinese media emphasised Scholz’s commitment to maintaining close bilateral relations. Moreover, Scholz was the first European head of government to travel to China since the pandemic began.
However, with all this said, the role of a German chancellor is different from that of a president. While Scholz possesses “Richtlinienkompetenz”, that is, the authority to determine policy guidelines, his China policy will significantly depend on whether he can appease his coalition partners – partners who have displayed a proclivity to alter the Sino-German status quo.
Thomas O. Falk is a UK-based independent journalist and political analyst