Germany

Germany’s newly unveiled “Strategy on China” echoed much of EU language in highlighting risks concerning competitiveness, supply chain resilience, national security and values in its recalibrated approach to China. While a de-risking strategy carries difficult trade-offs, there seems to be a broad consensus on the goals Germany wants to achieve.

Researcher Wei Da notes that while many things can be learned and embraced from the West, its political civilisation is one that China has rejected. But isn't that rejecting the core while transplanting the branches and leaves? Will that work?

Academic Ye Shengzhou explains why French President Emmanuel Macron has been aggressively pushing for EU strategic autonomy, more so after his visit to China. But even if France puts its weight behind the concept, the path of achieving strategic autonomy is paved with obstacles.

As the world marks one year of the war in Ukraine this month, commentator Jin Jian Guo looks at how the global situation has changed in that time, within the European continent and in the world at large. It is clear that in various aspects, Russia is not in a promising position, and China, as a pole that challenges the American order, will face significant obstacles.

Tensions in China-US relations are increasing, with the Taiwan Strait issue central to the antagonism between the two major powers. Chinese academic Guo Bingyun assesses four models from history that the US may adopt in the event of an armed reunification, and why these approaches may or may not be effective.

French academic Philippe Le Corre notes that France and China’s fairly close relationship seems to have eroded in recent years, mainly due to market access issues and the gaping trade deficit. While President Macron’s visit in 2023 could change the situation, France currently has no clear advantage over other powers in dealing with China.

This year’s dramatic geopolitical changes have significantly altered the calculus for foreign investment in China as large European enterprises are increasingly taking the lead and Japanese businesses are retreating in manufacturing and advancing in services. American companies, on the other hand, are frozen as the US government imposes tough sanctions on China’s tech sector and as manufacturers weigh strategic moves back to the US.

Analysing German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s recent visit to China, former journalist Goh Choon Kang offers the view that Germany — along with much of Europe — has been “weaponised” by the US for its own aims, whether in terms of China policy or the war in Ukraine. This is a clear lesson for other countries, those in Southeast Asia included.

Thorsten Benner of the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) in Berlin points out that unlike former Chancellor Merkel, current German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has invested a lot of time into building closer connections with Asian partners. This fits in with his worldview of multiple emerging global powers, and the need to foster resilience, diversification and “de-risking” in achieving economic security vis-a-vis China.