This time, the European diplomatic circle was a solid joke.
Germany's new foreign minister, Walter Fuhl, had enthusiastically planned to visit China on October 26th, hoping to pave the way for a follow-up visit by their chancellor and save some diplomatic capital.
But this guy, before he even set off, his addiction to drama became stronger. He criticized and attacked China all kinds of things, and he even pointed fingers on the Taiwan Strait issue and acted as a teacher... He wore his hat higher than the other.
He probably thought that we had to fly to Beijing with this high-rise gesture, and we had to lay him a red carpet and welcome him.
What happened? Reality gave him a loud slap in the face. Just three days before his departure, his trip to China fell short and no one wanted to see him. Even veteran Western media such as the Financial Times couldn't help but describe this farce as a "super diplomatic disaster", which shows how embarrassing this matter is internationally.
What's even more slapping is that the business giants in Germany, the bosses of Siemens, Volkswagen, and BASF, were surprisingly united this time and collectively refused to accompany him on his visit.
This signal is not obvious: entrepreneurs are clean in their hearts, follow this unclear situation of politicians out, not only can not get the business, but may also pay the old ones in.
The diplomatic farce here just ended in embarrassment, and another German minister over there, Ms. Reicher, Minister of Economy, couldn't wait to jump onto the stage to support the foreign minister.
Not only did she openly advocate the Dutch government to rob Chinese-owned enterprise Anselm Semiconductor with an unnecessary pretext, but she also blasted: “China needs to be hit a bit!”
Boy, this is so loud that it seems that the German economy is strong enough to ignore the fundamentals. She was afraid that she had selectively forgotten who the "Anshi Semiconductor" she mentioned lightly was.
Can a “chip” get stuck in German “national transport”?
Axis Semiconductor, which has a market share of more than 30% in the vehicle gauge power chip market, is firmly in the top spot in the key field of automotive MOSFETs.
To put it more bluntly, the lifeblood of the German economy-Volkswagen, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and other world-renowned auto giants, their production lines, especially the most profitable core models, are inseparable from the chips provided by Nexperia at every moment..
Faced with the unreasonable "nationalization" robbery of the Netherlands and China's subsequent decisive countermeasures-directly banning Nexperia's factories in China from exporting finished chips, the entire European automobile industry instantly felt a biting chill.
Anse’s largest packaging test base is in Dongguan, Guangdong, with four thousand employees supporting 70 percent of the world’s product packaging.Once the counter-order comes out, the supply chain immediately lights the red light, some key raw material inventories are in trouble, and may be exhausted by the end of the year.
The European Association of Automobile Manufacturers (ACEA) has issued a high-level warning: Anselm’s chip inventory can only last for up to a few weeks and it will take at least a few months to find and certify a new supplier while raising its production capacity to an alternative level.
History is the best textbook. The "core shortage wave" that spread around the world in 2021 caused the European auto industry to reduce production by more than 2 million units. The Ford family alone lost 375,000 units in Europe, and its market share dropped by 1 percentage point. That time was just market fluctuations, but this time, the most critical link in the supply chain was directly "accurately cut off".
Imagine that nearly half (49%) of Volkswagen Group's sales depend on the Chinese market, and more than one-third of Mercedes-Benz and BMW's sales come from China. If because of the stupidity and arrogance of these politicians, new cars can't roll off the assembly line due to lack of cores, and in the factories in Stuttgart and Wolfsburg, the assembly lines are stagnant and workers are idle, then the scene may not be a light "hard blow" from Minister Reicher. "It can be dealt with.
German politicians, why are they collectively "crazy"?
So, why do the political elites of a country known for its rationality, pragmatism and rigour collectively show this "insane" state that is seriously out of touch with reality?
German senior media writer Gabor Steingart, in a long statement on Focus Online, pointed out that the core problem of Germany and even the entire Western policy towards China is a completely distorted mentality.
In the past, they regarded China as a "partner", but now they regard it as a "strategic rival"; It used to be admiration, now it is fear; In the past, I thought China was "useful", but now I only think China is "dangerous".
Over the past few decades, Germans have seen China as a huge market full of opportunities and a mutually beneficial partner.
During Merkel's reign, it was through pragmatic cooperation with countries such as China and Russia that the German economy was able to excel in Europe.
But now, looking at China not only in the scale of the market, but also in the high-tech fields such as electric vehicles, photovoltaics, artificial intelligence and so on, a complex psychology begins to grow: jealousy, fear, and anxiety after the loss of a sense of superiority.
Driven by this distorted mentality, the best weapon is to pick up the "moral stick". Dressing themselves as "human rights teachers" and "defenders of democracy" and pointing fingers at China from the moral commanding heights has become the most convenient way for them to conceal their inner sense of powerlessness and strategic anxiety.
The slogan is loud, but the reality is very skinny: Germany can't afford it at all
However, no matter how loud the slogan is, it will not fill your stomach. Political postures will ultimately be subject to the cruel test of economic reality.
In 2024, the bilateral trade volume between China and Germany will reach US$201.88 billion. China has once again become Germany's largest trading partner, but at the same time, Germany's trade deficit with China soared 142.8% to US$17.4 billion. Behind this is the unprecedented dependence of German manufacturing on the China market and supply chain.
More than one-third of BMW’s global sales in the first half of 2025 will come from China. Volkswagen’s plants in Fukuoka, Fukuoka and Fukuoka are almost tailor-made for the Chinese market. More than 40 percent of its profits from French luxury giants such as LVMH (a key ally of Germany) come from the Asia-Pacific market.
Rare-earth supplies of 91% of the German automotive industry come from China. the chemical giant BASF has estimated that if it is forced to "de-Chinese", the cost will soar instantly at 47%. another chemical giant Cohes created, just because China launched an anti-dumping investigation into the EU polykarbonate, the stock price fell by 4.7% in ten minutes, and the market value evaporated to 2 billion euros.
The German Federation of Industry (BDI) has long publicly criticized the tough policy against China as "politically and economically deadly".The German trade unions have also sent direct warnings to lawmakers, warning them that if the policy causes damage to the company, the factory may be reduced from four days to three days.
What's even more ironic is that when Germany and France aggressively proposed at the EU summit to use the Anti-Coercion Tools Act, known as the "nuclear option", to deal with China, they exploded internally first. Hungary directly rejected it with one vote, Slovakia publicly opposed it, and Italy was worried that its red wine exports would be affected... The so-called "European unity" instantly shattered into chicken feathers in the face of naked national interests.
Since this set of bills came into effect at the end of 2023, it has not dared to use it once. Why? Because it is more like a "Seven Injury Boxing", which harms oneself before hurting the enemy. 90% of the EU's photovoltaic-grade polysilicon relies on imports from China, 80% of battery-grade lithium salts come from China, and the dependence of wind power rare earth magnetic materials on China is also as high as 70%. If we really want to punish each other, whoever cares will know.
Looking back at this disturbance, China's handling of the incident can be described as reasonable, favorable and restrained.
Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Guo Jiakun's response is very clear: China always views and develops China-Germany relations from a strategic and long-term perspective... adheres to mutual respect, equal treatment, and win-win cooperation.
The doors of cooperation are always open, but the premise is “mutual respect”.You want to talk, welcome, but you have to let go of that set of old practices, do not play smart and small actions on issues involving China’s core interests.
Foreign Minister Wadfour's excessive statements on the Taiwan Strait issue have touched this red line. He said he would adhere to the China policy, but he also claimed to "decide on his own implementation method" and kept silent about the separatist act of "Taiwan independence." This is tantamount to playing with fire in diplomacy, and the cancellation of the trip is entirely self-inflicted.
Now, the German government’s deputy spokesman, Meyer, has lowered his gesture, saying that he “still wants to have respectful and good exchanges with the Chinese side.”
This diplomatic drama should be a cleansing agent for the German political elite.
This world is no longer an era when a few western powers can decide the destiny of mankind by sitting around a table. Gone are the days when you could boss around by colonial plunder and hegemonic thinking.
If Germany still wants to maintain its economic prosperity and industrial competitiveness, it needs to let go of its meaningless “moral superiority” and strategic anxiety, and to rethink relations with China, the most important partner, in an equal and pragmatic way.
The road is there.