Germany Outlines New National Security Focused Approach To China

MNI London:Germany’s first comprehensive China strategy has outlined a “change in the way [Germany is] dealing with China.”

• German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the “China strategy responds to changing, more assertive China,” with the caveat that “the goal is not to decouple” but to “avoid critical dependencies,” which make the country, “vulnerable to political pressure.”
• The strategy says, “China is trying to create economic and technological dependencies … to achieve political goals and interests,” and says China’s decision to expand its relationship with Russia has “immediate security implications for Germany.”
• The strategy calls for deeper cooperation with Taiwan, claiming the “situation in Taiwan Strait has exposed [semiconductor] supply chain vulnerability.”
• The strategy, which is based on the EU’s common China policy, notes that “ratification of 2020 EU-China investment agreement is currently not possible for several reasons,” including Chinese compliance and risk attached to Chinese investment posed by the “government's policy of civil military fusion.”
• The strategy says that Germany will “consistently demand comprehensive structural improvements” in the Chinese market and, “Chinese direct investments must not pose risk to German security for example through sensitive technologies.”