Olaf Scholz’s trip to China, from Sunday April 14 to Tuesday April 16, was very similar to the state visits which characterized the period of great economic cooperation. A sign that the German Chancellor does not consider it finished, in a context where Europe is now worried about both the scale of Chinese exports and the proximity between Beijing and Moscow.
With two days devoted to the economy and dialogue on less controversial subjects with students and a single day intended to address the more difficult political issues, the program of his visit reflected this German strategy more open to exchanges with China than neither are the current European Commission or the American ally.
The head of the German government landed on Sunday in Chongqing, a vertical metropolis on the banks of the Yangtze, where he visited a Bosch hydrogen engine factory then discovered the impressive megacity, accompanied by young architects, before an excursion on the river. The next day, in Shanghai, the country’s most populous and international city, he visited a polymer factory of the German group Covestro, before being received at Tongji University. It was there that he presented his approach to China. The Social Democratic Chancellor spoke of the difficulties for Western companies in accessing the Chinese market. “One thing is clear, the competition must be fair”, he said. But he also seemed to put the Chinese risk for European industries into perspective, referring to the fear of Japanese automobiles in the 1980s. “There was a lot of excitement in the newspapers: now the Japanese cars are coming and will crush us”he noted, adding that business with China guarantees many jobs in Germany.
The discussion on the problem of Chinese industrial overcapacity turns into a dialogue of the deaf in any case. Discussed with the secretary of the Communist Party of the city of Chongqing, it was dismissed as fake news by the Chinese side, according to the Bloomberg agency.
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The German chancellor raised the issue of Taiwan, warning that “borders must not be changed by force”. But his approach to human rights could not be more discreet. He pleaded with the students for more exchanges and for “free, open conversation”. “The best thing, obviously, is to be able to express your opinions freely”, argued the German leader. A rare reference to the regime’s closure during its visit to a country where rights are roundly violated.
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