“Critical Infrastructure”
Will China’s entry into the port of Hamburg fail?
04/12/2023 11:37 am
Last year, the traffic light government agreed on 25 percent: The Chinese state-owned company Cosco should not be allowed to take over more at a Hamburg terminal. The Ministry of the Interior has now classified the site as critical infrastructure. The deal could finally be off the table.
The entry of the Chinese state-owned company Cosco into a Hamburg container terminal could still fail after a long struggle and a compromise. This is the result of research by NDR, WDR and the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”. According to this, the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), which reports to the Ministry of the Interior, has now classified the Hamburger Tollerort terminal as a critical infrastructure. Under this term, the terminal of the Hamburg port company HHLA is considered to be particularly worthy of protection.
Originally, the Chinese state-owned company Cosco wanted to take over a 35 percent stake in the terminal. After consultations between supporters, such as Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and critics, such as Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck, the traffic light agreed on a compromise last year: Cosco’s share should be less than 25 percent.
Failure could have dramatic consequences
With the new classification, the sale of the terminal is not finally off the table – but the federal government must now think twice whether it still agrees to a Cosco investment. According to the BSI, critical infrastructures (KRITIS) are organizations “whose failure or impairment would result in lasting supply bottlenecks, significant disruptions to public safety or other dramatic consequences”.
The concept of critical infrastructure was the focus of discussion last year. Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that it was a legitimate concern to say that infrastructure should not be influenced in the wrong way. “That’s not the case in any way in this case.”
SPD leader Lars Klingbeil also said it was “about minority participation in a terminal” and “not about letting the Chinese into the critical infrastructure.” Hamburg’s Mayor Peter Tschentscher sees it that way, too, and he has always emphasized: “Neither China nor other countries should have access to the critical infrastructure in Germany.”
“Cosco is not a normal shipping company”
However, Cosco’s plans caused irritation among experts and critics, and raised concerns that the group could become dominant. “Cosco is not a normal shipping company like the Danish Maersk, but one of the most important state-owned companies in China,” said Jacob Gunter from the Mercator Institute for China Studies in an interview with ntv.de.
In addition, Cosco is not just a single company, but also its sister companies, all of which are owned by SASAC, the holding company for China’s 97 state-owned enterprises. “So Cosco is really just a part of this super conglomerate and primarily an instrument of Beijing,” Gunter continued.
The port operator HHLA has confirmed the classification to the media WRD, NDR and “Süddeutsche Zeitung”. In the past, there have always been difficulties in communication between the port operator HHLA and the BSI. Therefore, the classification could have dragged on until now.