Robert Habeck is in China for the first time. He has only been there for a few hours and he is already speaking plainly – including to Berlin.
Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck is starting his first trip to China with clear demands on the host. The Green politician criticized China’s good economic relations with Russia in Beijing despite Western sanctions. He also wants to address the difficult issue of human rights.
But it didn’t stop there: Habeck gave German politicians some homework from the Far East. The China strategy, which was adopted by the traffic light coalition last year after a long struggle, needs to be revised, he said – although not immediately.
The Federal Minister of Economics also addressed the controversial issue of subsidies just a few hours after landing on the government plane. This support from the Chinese state meant that goods were being sold below market value in Germany and Europe. There, they would “undermine or possibly destroy” the markets.
Habeck: China’s attitude towards Russia is damaging its own economy
The EU Commission recently threatened high punitive tariffs on Chinese electric cars. The Brussels authority accuses the Chinese government of unfair subsidies. China retaliated by announcing an anti-dumping investigation into imported products from the European Union, which concerns pork and by-products. Both sides will try to find a solution in the struggle over impending car tariffs until the beginning of July.
Habeck also criticized China’s solidarity with Russia. “Trade relations with Russia are growing and the Chinese are buying Russian raw materials cheaply,” said Habeck. “That is without question, and in my view it is wrong and will be addressed as such, as all European and American ministers and foreign ministers and heads of government always do.”
China knows that this attitude is also damaging its economy, said Habeck. “China is also losing something, namely increasing access to the European market.” He thinks that this will be clear to China. “Otherwise I will address this again tomorrow.”
Habeck: Nobody in Germany wants to buy products produced by forced labour
The Vice Chancellor plans to hold talks with the Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), Zheng Shanjie, and the Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao and Industry Minister Jin Zhuanglong in the Chinese capital on Saturday. A possible meeting with Prime Minister Li Qiang was canceled – he does not know why, said Habeck.
Human rights are always an issue and central to Germany, Europe and him personally, said Habeck. In the People’s Republic, serious human rights violations are repeatedly criticized, most recently in Xinjiang in the far west, where, according to reports, people from the Uighur minority were housed in camps and forced to work.
“Nobody in Europe, nobody in Germany wants to buy products that were produced through forced labor, that were produced in violation of human rights, where children had to work miserably, under miserable conditions, where land theft is the basis of production,” said Habeck. The European supply chain law will in future ensure that companies must comply with appropriate due diligence obligations.
Habeck calls for revision of China strategy
Habeck believes that the German government’s China strategy, which was only adopted last year, should be revised. “Sooner or later, the China strategy needs an update,” said the Green politician. Two things are missing. The current strategy begins “with the status quo, but not with the horizon.” The question is what the relationship with China will look like in thirty years. “I say that because I am sure that China has a strategy about where they want to go, and I believe the USA does too.” In addition, it is a strategy of the German government alone, but a European approach is needed.
Last summer, the German government adopted a comprehensive China strategy for the first time. It defines the country, which is ruled by the hard-line communist leadership, as a partner, competitor and systemic rival. The core of the strategy is to reduce economic dependence on China in order to avoid a rude awakening like the one that occurred after the Russian attack on Ukraine when gas supplies were cut off.
According to Habeck, the EU should find a common line
When asked later by journalists, Habeck only referred to the second part of his comments. “It is a German China strategy and the approaches in Europe are quite different.” At a meeting with the ambassadors of the EU states in Beijing, he said that these approaches must be brought together in a changed world, said Habeck. “This cannot be done in the short term, but rather a long-term task for Europe.”
The federal government, consisting of the SPD, the Greens and the FDP, had long and controversially wrangled over the strategy. The Greens, led by Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Habeck, are advocating a much tougher course than Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD).
Source: Stern
