Now, Germany has once again backed itself into a corner. German Foreign Minister Wadfour, who was originally scheduled to visit China on October 26, was suddenly unilaterally announced by Germany to postpone his trip two days before his departure. The reason given by the German Foreign Ministry sounded official: "It is impossible to arrange enough meetings."

But those who care a little about relations with China and Germany know that behind this word is a series of things that should not be said and should not be done.

Things have to start on October 9th. On the same day, China's Ministry of Commerce issued two announcements on strengthening export controls on rare earth-related items, and implemented export controls on rare earth mining equipment, processing technology and some medium and heavy rare earth products. As soon as this set of new regulations came out, the nerves of the entire European industry tightened.

Why? Because of the global rare earth processing capacity, China accounts for more than 90%. As the backbone of European manufacturing, Germany is inseparable from China's rare earth supply chain in everything from automobile batteries to precision instruments.

At this critical juncture, German Deputy Chancellor and Finance Minister Klingbaer could not hold back. On October 17, when he attended an International Monetary Fund meeting in Washington, he publicly criticized China's new rare earth regulations, saying,"We have made it clear within the G7 that we disagree with China's practices."

It sounds tough, but the problem is that Germany itself has no alternative at all. Without China's rare earth supply, Europe's new energy industry and high-end manufacturing industry will basically stop.

What's even worse is Foreign Minister Wadfur himself, who is about to visit China. In an interview before his trip, he actually put forward three "requirements" to China: first, he asked China to liberalize the export control of rare earths; Second, force must not be used to change the status quo in the Taiwan Strait; Third, pressure Russia to stop military operations. These three are all words stepping on the red line.

Wadefur accused China of "destroying the supply chain", but he seemed to forget that when the US initially implemented a semiconductor blockade against China, Germany did not follow the trick.

You know, China's rare earth export control measures are fully in line with the Export Control Law and international practices, and there is no essential difference from what the United States did to China at the beginning. The only difference is that China has real strategic resources.

The Taiwan issue becomes even more sensitive. Waldfour said he recognized the China principle, but turned around and claimed that Germany would "decide on its own how to implement policies." These words are ambiguous enough, but they are actually leaving a way out for themselves and may make small moves on the Taiwan issue at any time.

China's position on the Taiwan Province issue is clear and clear, which is the core interest of the core interests. Any external force that wants to play the sideline on this issue can't get a good face.

As for the Russian issue, Germany has not yet clarified its own energy dispute with Russia, and now it wants China to "put pressure" on Russia. To be honest, this kind of request itself is unreliable. China-Russia relations have their own trajectory, which cannot be commanded by Germany just because it wants to.

On October 22, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China made his words very clear at a regular press conference. In response to the EU's request for "emergency talks", the spokesman said that the essence of China-EU economic and trade relations is complementary advantages, mutual benefit and win-win results, and he hopes that the EU will abide by its commitment to support free trade and oppose trade protectionism.

These words sound polite, but they are actually beating Germany: Don't use double standards. Why didn't you say it violated the principle of free trade when you blocked China's semiconductors?

Just two days after this statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on October 24th, the German side suddenly announced the postponement of Wadfur's visit to China. The reason given by Germany is that "China has only confirmed one meeting with Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and other high-level and departmental counterpart arrangements have not been implemented".

This sounds like a complaint about China¡¯s failure to cooperate, but it is clear to all that a series of inappropriate statements made by Germany before the visit have lost Beijing¡¯s patience.

What makes Germany even more embarrassing is that German Prime Minister Mertz actively promoted a tough response to China's rare earth controls at the EU summit, and even supported the launch of an "anti-coercion" mechanism. This mechanism was originally used by the EU to deal with the United States, but now it is used to deal with China. It is obviously the wrong target.

You know, according to data from the German Federal Statistical Office, China will be Germany's largest trading partner in 2024, with a bilateral trade volume exceeding 253 billion euros. If you really want to tear your face, the first thing to suffer will be Germany's own manufacturing industry and jobs.

The current situation is clear: German industry cannot separate from China's rare-earth supply chain, but German decision-makers also want to put political pressure on China.

The new rare earth export control regulations issued by China's Ministry of Commerce have clearly put the words ahead-safeguarding national security and interests and fulfilling international obligations such as non-proliferation. These are legal and compliant initiatives that are fully in line with international practice.

On the surface, the temporary cancellation of Germany's planned visit to China is an ordinary adjustment of the diplomatic schedule. To put it deeper, it reflects the deep-seated problems currently facing Sino-German relations.

Berlin needs to think carefully about whether it continues to follow U.S. command and take its economic interests as political codes, or it returns to reason, recognizes the real basis of Sino-German economic and trade cooperation, and seeks ways to resolve differences under the premise of mutual respect.

What to do next? The ball is on the German side. But one thing is certain: China will not change its principled stance due to external pressure. Diplomacy is about mutual respect. You ask others to open the door, but at the same time you point fingers at the door. The host family won't let you in. Who can you blame?

If Germany continues to scratch the margins on the Taiwan issue and engage in double standards on the economic and trade issue, such a visit, even if successful, will not solve any substantive problems.