Asia (bbabo.net), - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is pursuing an irresponsible economic policy, contributing to Germany's dependence on China, a foreign policy expert from the Christian Democratic and Christian Social Union (CDU / CSU) faction said on Sunday, October 23 in the Bundestag Norbert Röttgen.
“The chancellor is pursuing a misguided policy toward China. He wants to allow Beijing to get a stake in the management of the port of Hamburg and thus increase the country's dependence on the Chinese state," Röttgen told Funke Media Group. According to the parliamentarian, the existing dependence of the German economy on China is “irresponsible”, and “its strengthening will further jeopardize the sovereignty” of the FRG.
According to Röttgen, the re-election of Xi Jinping as General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China indicates the successful transition of Beijing from "an authoritarian system to a totalitarian dictatorship." Against this background, the opposition representative also criticized Scholz's plans to go on a working visit to China "just a few days" after the conclusion of the CPC Congress, which marked the beginning of Xi Jinping's third five-year term as General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party. “It is time for Germany to stop its naive policy towards Beijing,” the parliamentarian summed up.
On Friday, Der Spiegel reported on disagreements between the German chancellor and several ministers over the approval of an already agreed deal for the acquisition by the Chinese state company Cosco of a stake in the port of Hamburg. As the magazine emphasized, Scholz and the government of the Hanseatic city intend to "achieve the signing of an agreement despite the negative position of the Ministry of Economy of Germany."
According to the NDR and WDR TV channels, the relevant department has already submitted a report in which it called on the federal government to reject the deal due to "risks of putting pressure on Germany in matters related to critical infrastructure."
“When the state company Cosco says that you will become a ‘port with privileges’ if you approve the decision to acquire a stake, of course, the question should be asked: what if this decision is not approved?” Rolf Langhammer, an expert at the Institute for the World Economy in Kiel, told Die Welt. In his opinion, the Chinese proposal puts the port of Hamburg and the federal government in a difficult position, leaving no room for maneuver. The situation is aggravated by the fact that, at the end of 2021, Germany's largest seaport lost ground to its two main competitors, Rotterdam and Antwerp.
According to the co-chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) Lars Klingbeil, the current discussions about the acquisition by Cosco of a stake in the sea harbor "are sometimes becoming very one-sided." “If you look a little into the details, you will see that we are talking about an operating company. We are talking about a minority stake in the port terminal. I don’t want to downplay it at all, but this is not about allowing the Chinese to access critical infrastructure, ”the leader of the ruling party said in an interview with Deutschlandfunk. According to him, the details of the deal need to be “explained in detail” and the federal government “has a few more days” to do this. According to the Ministry of Economy, the deal will be under consideration until October 31, the decision-making period may be extended.
On Saturday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China issued an official statement calling on official Berlin to remain committed to "pragmatic and mutually beneficial German-Chinese cooperation." Chancellor Olaf Scholz is expected to arrive in Beijing on November 3 to hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
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