Pragmatic Cooperation Remains the Mainstay of Sino-German Ties

The Western media has reported that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is set to visit China in November. Accompanying a business delegation, the visit will be the chancellor’s first trip to the country since taking office at the beginning of this year. Scholz was later quoted saying that “globalization has been a success story that enabled prosperity for many people. We must defend it,” and adding that “decoupling is the wrong answer” and that, “I say emphatically we must continue to do business with China.”

Following his remarks, European trade commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis struck a similar tone, stating that “decoupling from China is not an option for companies in the European Union.”

Both comments come amidst growing political uncertainties and tensions throughout the world. There is a push from the United States to try and get other countries on board with strategic containment against China, with the White House resorting to increasingly coercive measures when it is clear that other countries, out of their national interests, will not cooperate. This has caused a growing dilemma and tension within the European Union.

EU leaders have spoken of the need to maintain the “strategic autonomy” of the bloc. That is, to maintain an ability to take its own geopolitical positions and preferences instead of being subdued by another power. Most explicitly, this commentary is interpreted as being about Europe’s relationship with the U.S. This relationship built and dominated European security architecture following the Second World War and the Cold War. This rendering has long made Europe a follower of the foreign policy agenda set by the U.S.

However, while both parties legitimately share some of the same interests, there are many instances in which the U.S. actively exploits or undermines European interests to impose its own. The most prominent example right now is the situation concerning Russia and energy, whereby the U.S. wants to force the continent to decouple from the supply of Russian energy to export its own liquid natural gas. One example is America’s longstanding opposition to the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

One of the other areas where this is happening is in China. The EU and China constitute two of the world’s largest consumer markets, spanning different sides of the Eurasian continent, forming the world’s largest bilateral trade relationship. Europe, having experienced poor economic performance for the past 14 years, has relied upon China as a supply chain and a critical source of economic growth. Further integration between the two parties and increased market access in European businesses, embodied by the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI), demonstrate this mutual interest.

In response, the U.S. has aggressively opposed European integration with China. In its efforts to divide the world into competing ideological blocs, it has pushed it towards irrelevant Indo-Pacific-related strategies and used various means to stir up conflict between the two, seeing Europe as a rightful part of its own “sphere of influence.” However, modern Europe’s reality is that its success and prosperity have been built on the rock of globalization, open markets and multilateralism. The ideology of Europe is based on pragmatic, stable and international cooperation. In doing so, it is against the institution’s ethos to pursue a full-blown confrontation with China purely for the interests of the U.S.

In recognizing the stark choices faced, European leaders are increasingly speaking out. As uncertainties mount, China remains a critical partner. No matter what happens elsewhere in the world, that dynamic cannot change owing to the size and significance of the country. While many U.S.-sponsored think-tankers and media groups have aggressively lobbied to try and reset Germany’s foreign policy amid Angela Merkel’s departure, the reality is very different. China will remain Germany’s largest export market, and irrespective of differences, some geopolitical issues are best solved through dialogue, negotiation and peaceful means.

The U.S. has sought to attack China aggressively on all fronts. However, it is clear that Europe, collectively speaking, is neither comfortable nor sure of the direction it has been pushed in. Europe must offset this pressure and keep its options open, sustain its strategic autonomy and calm geopolitical tensions as the Biden administration continues to exert chaos throughout the globe. Germany and China will both benefit from each other if the two sides continue to engage in open dialogue and pursue pragmatic cooperation.