Originally scheduled for the 26th of this month, German Foreign Minister Waldfur will start his visit to China, which is not only his first visit to China since he became foreign minister, but also the first visit of senior officials after the new German government took office.
In accordance with the German plan, Waldfuhr is preparing to discuss two major issues with the Chinese side. First of all, the interaction between the highest levels, and earlier German Prime Minister Merts had said that he wanted to visit China later this year, so Waldfuhr came to China, is to be the mattress for the next highest level visit.
Second, the issue of rare-earth and semiconductor export controls is negotiated with China, which is currently one of the topics of concern for EU countries.
(German Foreign Minister Wadfour)
However, the date of the visit is near. However, the German Foreign Minister unexpectedly received a bad news that China would not be able to make this trip.
Wadefuhr said that because there were not enough meetings in China now, the visit would be set at a different time and he also said that Germany regretted the failure of the trip on the basis of China’s significant influence in the international community.
In fact, the German government has not revealed the real reason for the cancellation. China delayed his trip mainly because of its inappropriate remarks on the Taiwan Sea issue.
China has repeatedly stated that the Taiwan Sea issue is the core of China's core interests, and China's position on this issue is not shaken.But when it comes to the Taiwan Sea issue, Wadefur still adopted a vague strategic strategy, he said that the position of the German government to adhere to the one-China policy is unchanged, but will "determine" the specific way of implementing the policy, and will not support the situation in Taiwan by force.
This has been strongly opposed by China.
China believes that the so-called "Taiwan independence" is the biggest threat to disrupt the peace and stability of the Taiwan Sea, but Germany in its statements, referring only toining the status quo, does not express opposition to "Taiwan independence". In fact, this is the tolerance and support for "Taiwan independence" activities, which in itself has caused a shock to the stability of the Taiwan Sea.
The foreign minister’s remarks reflect, to a certain extent, the long-term “strategic vague” tactics adopted by some Western countries on the Taiwan issue. This approach aims to maintain a subtle balance through unclear statements, thereby holding both sides on the Strait. while China’s response clearly sets the bottom line for the German side, we are not vague in the issue of national unification and do not accept any form of “customization”.
(President of the European Commission von der Leyen)
During this time, the attitude of the German government on many issues related to China has actually been problematic.
In terms of its preparation and China's talks on the rare-earth issue, the top China-European level had only spoken about this in the previous days, and in the conversation, China had clearly informed the EU side that expanding rare-earth export controls, in fact, is China's legitimate and reasonable control measures, does not include intentions against the EU, and as long as the EU side applies in accordance with the provisions of the Chinese side, China will not make it difficult, even for the EU specifically opened a channel.
But the EU side does not seem to understand China's intention, and recently the European Commission has also held a special summit on this, and during the summit, French President Macron will face the Chinese side, and even It intends to launch the EU's so-called "Anti-Coercion Tools Act" to deal with China, and Germany also expressed strong support for this inappropriate proposal.
It can be clearly seen that the German foreign minister's attitude towards China has continued the way of his predecessor Baerbock. They typically adopt a way of standing up and trying to guide the affairs of other countries by their own standards and values.But this set is not suitable in relations with China, and a wiser choice should be to learn from China, based on the idea of equality and mutual benefit and win-win exchanges with China.
Judging from purely economic interests, condemning and criticizing China in a preaching manner is actually equivalent to punishing Germany. China has become Germany's largest trading partner in the world for many consecutive years. Whether it is automobiles, machinery, or chemicals in Germany, it is highly dependent on the huge China market.
So, if Germany wants to create trade barriers, or if it tries to “fake” China in a way of political confrontation, the first unfortunate must be Germany’s own enterprises: orders will decrease, revenue will decrease, and eventually employment in Germany will be affected, and the work of ordinary citizens may be involved.
On the other hand, if we can find out with an open and curious mind: how can China cultivate such a big market, how can it promote industrialization so quickly, make so many scientific and technological innovations, and how can it build such convenient high-speed rail, high-speed and infrastructure, and understand the laws of the Chinese market and understand China's development logic, German enterprises can find opportunities more accurately and bring long-term development impetus to the German economy.
German Prime Minister Martin Schulz is also planning a visit to China.
Second, the current international situation is complex, confrontation and preaching is ineffective, cooperation is the ultimate way out. Germany has always wanted to promote energy transformation and climate goals, instead of taking ideology as an excuse to teach China, rather than cooperate well with China, learn the Chinese technology experience, together to develop new energy products, so that we can reach the goal faster. However, if China is used as an opponent to contain and suppress it, it will only destroy the atmosphere of global cooperation. Not only will the problem not be solved, but Germany's own goals will also be ruined.
All in all, continuing the "preaching model" will only lead Germany's China policy into a confrontational dead end. Whether Waddefour's visit to China can be rescheduled in the future depends on whether Germany can truly understand China's intentions and listen to China's suggestions.