According to a media report, employees of Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens) expect Taiwan to be annexed by China by 2027 at the latest. This is the 100th year of the founding of the People’s Liberation Army, the news portal quotes The Pioneer in its Thursday edition in advance from a confidential China strategy of the ministry, which is available to the editors.
Germany’s potential for blackmail is high given the economic ties. The portal continues to report that the 100-page document has not been coordinated with the federal government. However, Habeck accepted it this week in a management round and promised a speedy implementation of the measures.
Basically, the goal is to make the German economy more independent of China. In order to achieve this, new reporting obligations are planned for German companies with strong China business. In addition, politicians should support German-Chinese economic projects less strongly. According to the paper, Germany’s dependence has increased in recent years. “As China reduces its dependency, China’s economic importance for the EU and Germany continues to increase.”
NATO chief Stoltenberg: “A conflict over Taiwan would be in nobody’s interest”
This news comes at a time after NATO foreign ministers in Bucharest discussed relations with China and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, among other issues. In this framework, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated that in order to limit dependence on China, NATO countries must avoid repeating the mistakes they have made in relations with Russia. “I believe in free trade and member states should continue to trade with China, but we cannot make these decisions based solely on commercial considerations,” Stoltenberg told Wednesday Bloomberg Television.
Stoltenberg took the opportunity to describe China’s behavior towards Taiwan as “aggressive, compelling and threatening” and said: “There is no reason for that and a conflict over Taiwan would be in nobody’s interest.”