Status: 10/20/2022 3:02 p.m
The German government and the opposition have criticized the planned partial sale of the Port of Hamburg to a Chinese state-owned company. Hamburg’s Mayor Tschentscher defends the entry.
The planned sale of part of the port of Hamburg to the Chinese state-owned company Cosco is causing sharp criticism within the federal government and from the opposition. According to information from NDR and WDR all six ministries that are technically involved in the investment review have previously rejected the deal. According to the research, however, the Chancellery is pushing for the entry to take place.
Green leader Ricarda Lang wrote on Twitter: “We should learn from mistakes, especially with regard to China, and not create new dependencies.” She has no understanding that the chancellery wants to push through the sale of the port of Hamburg against the criticism of all the ministries involved.
Criticism of China plans by the Greens and FDP
Criticism also comes from the Greens Vice-Chairmen Andreas Audretsch and Konstantin von Notz. “The sale of parts of the port of Hamburg to a Chinese state-owned company would be a huge mistake,” explained Audretsch. In a tweet, von Notz emphasized that he considered it “highly problematic and wrong” if parts of the critical structure of the Port of Hamburg were to be “sold to a digital dictatorship like China”.
FDP General Secretary Bijan Djir-Sarai said: “The Chinese Communist Party must not have access to our country’s critical infrastructure.” He warned against being naïve towards the Chinese rulers. “The tough power interests they are pursuing are not in our interest. The fact remains: China is an important trading partner, but also a systemic rival. We should act accordingly.”
Spahn sees a “fatal mistake” in a sale
Union parliamentary group leader Jens Spahn has also spoken out against the Chinese entry. Spahn explained in Berlin: “One lesson learned from the pandemic and the energy crisis is that we have to become more independent of China.” But Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) apparently wants to increase the dependency even further. “That would be a fatal mistake.”
Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) is right. “German ports do not belong in Chinese hands. Especially since Europeans cannot participate in ports in China.” Habeck had been critical of getting started. “I tend in the direction that we don’t allow that,” said the minister on Tuesday.
Tschentscher continues to campaign for sales
Hamburg’s Mayor Peter Tschentscher (SPD), on the other hand, continues to support Cosco’s participation in a container terminal. “Nothing has changed on the matter,” said Senate spokesman Marcel Schweitzer, referring to the dispute in the traffic light coalition.
The mayor does not share the fears that China could gain access to the critical infrastructure through a minority stake in the HHLA container terminal in Tollerort.
The land should remain in public hands
Tschentscher had already emphasized in the past that neither China nor other countries should have access to the critical infrastructure in Germany. The land in the Port of Hamburg therefore remained entirely in public hands. The operation of the port as a whole is still 100 percent the responsibility of the Hamburg Port Authority. There are a total of four container terminals in Hamburg.
“Cosco’s planned 35 percent minority stake in the operator company for the container terminal Tollerort CTT is not associated with any strategic influence or access to the port infrastructure,” emphasized the mayor. The operating company itself is only a tenant of the terminal areas, which remain fully owned by the city.