Merkel’s engagement strategy has made China becomes Germany’s main trading partner during its 16 years in office and has shaped the posture of Europe over Beijing, even amid concerns about unfair competition and industrial espionage.
“Perhaps at first we were too naive in our approach to some cooperative partnerships,” Merkel said in an interview. “These days we look at things more closely, and with good reason.”
Merkel, who did not run for re-election in September and will step down once a new government is agreed, said Germany and the European Union in general should continue to cooperate with China and that they could learn from each other.
“Total decoupling would not be correct in my opinion, it would be detrimental for us,” he said.
China became Germany’s largest trading partner in 2016, and its rapid economic expansion has fueled the country’s growth during his tenure.
But some critics say Germany is now too dependent on China and is getting too soft on Beijing on uncomfortable issues like human rights violations.
Merkel’s government has said that it always addresses issues of human rights with Beijing and that it has sought to diversify trade in Asia.
Merkel said Germany is continuously in talks with Beijing about intellectual property and patent protection and noted that Western democracies that have attempted to formulate ethical standards for new technologies must keep abreast of innovation in order to capture its impact.
“At the moment, that is not the case in Europe in fields such as quantum computers and artificial intelligence,” he said. “China and in many areas the United States are better.”
But Merkel said that the State must protect its critical infrastructure, pointing to a new German cybersecurity law that sets major hurdles for next-generation telecom network equipment manufacturers, such as China’s Huawei.
“However, I think it is always important to emphasize that companies should not be excluded from the beginning,” he said.
Merkel is now acting as interim leader pending the formation of a new coalition government, some of whose members advocate a tougher line with China.
“We need an open system in which everyone is evaluated according to the same standards,” he said.
Source From: Ambito
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