The Augsburger Allgemeine Zeitung, under the headline “Containing the epidemic, reviving the economy, China’s triumph over the West”, commented that China is now confident and Europeans are destined to face a more aggressive China.
“Under the oppressive, power-hungry Xi Jinping, who rivals the dictator Mao Zedong, the Chinese government will not miss any opportunity to make Westerners feel that Western governments are failing and want to make them feel that their governments are incapable of protecting their people and their economies from the epidemic.”
The article goes on to take stock of how China’s economy has bucked the trend of growth in the second half of this year, noting that the epidemic is likely to accelerate the pace at which China is catching up with Western countries like the United States.
“This sense of Chinese superiority is already being felt by some of the countries that dare to bash Beijing. For example, the Australian government once asked China to allow an independent investigation into the origins of the new crown virus, and also protested China’s suppression of the democracy movement in Hong Kong and condemned the oppression of the Uyghurs; now many Australian cargo ships are not allowed to dock in Chinese ports. It is possible that all this is just a prelude to the same fate that will befall the Europeans. Because countries are economically dependent on China, Beijing has the means to exert pressure. And, the Chinese government will not be afraid to use these means of pressure.”
The author points out that it is out of fear of Chinese retaliation that Germany has taken a cautiously restrained stance in the face of China’s crackdown on Hong Kong’s democrats and human rights violations against ethnic minorities.” Although there are now also many voices in Germany calling for a tougher line on China, the German government will still not take a tougher line on China in the coming months. In the epidemic-ridden 2020, German car companies such as Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen and BMW were only able to avoid losses thanks to booming Chinese business. The CDU and SPD, the two ruling parties, will not risk their well-functioning business relationships in 2021, when they face elections. So Beijing will be able to be stronger on issues such as the controversial (China-EU) trade.”
Symbolbild Handelsbeziehungen EU – China
“With the vaccine, the West may be able to gradually contain the outbreak. However, the West will then face a more aggressive China. The year 2021 will still be a difficult year for the West.”
For its part, the German newspaper Handelsblatt, published in Düsseldorf, published a commentary attacking the EU’s attempts to abandon its values in the European-Chinese trade talks.
“The Chinese government has used the opportunity provided by the epidemic to improve its system of surveillance of its own population and to become more and more unrestrained in its foreign policy. This spring, Germany and France had been alarmed by their dependence on the Chinese market, and both governments said they wanted to build a strategic initiative to free their economies, their supply chains, from dependence on China as an elusive partner.”
Now, six months later, the author attacks, Europe’s plans to break away from its dependence on China have nearly disappeared; at the same time, the German presidency of the European Union is striving to reach a consensus on a European-Chinese investment agreement that has been under negotiation for years by the end of the year. The article notes with concern that European negotiators are abandoning the EU’s core demands in order to secure Beijing’s agreement.
“The EU side is no longer insisting that the Chinese side must respect labor rights, allow free trade unions and put an end to forced labor, but is simply asking the Chinese Communist authorities to ‘work in this direction.’ This is clearly a case of France and Germany trying to get Europe to kowtow to China. Instead of building a common policy towards China with the new US President Joe Biden, the EU is hoping to be a step ahead in the vast Chinese market. At the same time, the EU is leaving the door open for Chinese takeovers of European companies.”
“For now, only the European Parliament can still stop this cheapening of Europe. Otherwise, the end of 2020 will be like the beginning of 2020: mindlessly forgetting its values because of some self-perceived benefits.”
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