Merkel admits China policy was too naive
Tougher line likely from next German government, but chancellor warns against ‘total decoupling’
GERMANY may have been naive in its dealings with China, Angela Merkel has conceded for the first time.
“Maybe initially we were rather too naive in our approach to some co-operation partnerships,” the outgoing German chancellor said in an interview with Reuters. “These days we look more closely, and rightly so.”
It was a rare admission from Mrs Merkel that an approach that was a cornerstone of her foreign policy may have been flawed.
She is set to stand down as chancellor in a matter of weeks, and a new government under Olaf Scholz is expected to take a tougher line on China.
Germany has come under growing pressure from the United States and its European Union allies to be more wary in its dealings with Beijing.
China has been Germany’s largest trading partner since 2016 and total trade volume between the two countries reached €200billion (£168billion) in 2018.
Germany’s Western allies fear the country is too dependent on China at a time of rising confrontation with Beijing.
But Mrs Merkel resisted pressure to take a tougher approach, insisting dialogue is a more effective way of dealing with China than confrontation. She reiterated that yesterday even as she admitted to past errors, saying the EU must continue to engage with China.
“Total decoupling wouldn’t be right in my view. It would be damaging for us,” she said. The incoming German government is expected to be much tougher with Beijing.
Annalena Baerbock, the Green Party’s co-leader widely tipped to serve as foreign minister in a coalition under Mr Scholz, has long taken a hard line on China.
“We mustn’t be naive about China,” she said earlier this year, warning that Beijing is trying to make other countries economically dependent on it by investing in infrastructure. “That is the point where we as Europeans have to be very vigilant,” Ms Baerbock said.
Mr Scholz has served as finance minister in Mrs Merkel’s coalition for the past four years, but there have long been concerns from his centre-left Social Democrats regarding her China policy.
“There is no willingness on Mrs Merkel’s side to change, but there will definitely be a more robust approach to China after she goes,” Nils Schmid, an SPD foreign policy spokesman, told the Financial Times in January.
The pro-business Free Democrats, who are expected to join the three-way coalition, also advocate a more robust line with China.
An initial exploratory paper from coalition talks spoke of “systemic competition with authoritarian states and dictatorships” — a very different vision from Mrs Merkel’s policy of dialogue and engagement.
The outgoing chancellor was guided by the principle of “change through trade” – the idea that by trading with China the West could export its own ideas, such as democracy and human rights.
As recently as last year, she used Germany’s six-month EU presidency to push through an investment agreement with China, the China-eu Comprehensive Agreement.