HAmburg’s Mayor Peter Tschentscher (SPD) continues to advocate for the Chinese terminal operator Cosco to participate in a container terminal in the port of the Hanseatic city. “Nothing has changed on the matter,” said Senate spokesman Marcel Schweitzer on Thursday, referring to the dispute in the Berlin traffic light coalition over the approval of China’s entry. 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.
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 of the container terminal Tollerort CTT does not involve any strategic influence or access to the port infrastructure. The operating company itself is only a tenant of the terminal areas, which remain fully owned by the city,” emphasized the mayor.
Dispute in the government about China’s entry into the port terminal
A media report about the possible sale of parts of the Port of Hamburg to a Chinese state-owned company has caused outrage. According to research by NDR and WDR the Chancellery wants to push through the Chinese entry – despite warnings from the relevant ministries.
“According to information from NDR and WDR, all six ministries that are technically involved in the investment review have rejected the deal,” the broadcasters reported on Thursday. “According to the research, however, the Chancellery is pushing for the entry to take place.”
The background to this is an agreement concluded in September 2021 between the Hamburg port logistics company HHLA and the Chinese terminal operator Cosco on a 35 percent stake for the Chinese in the Hamburg HHLA terminal in Tollerort (CTT). A spokeswoman for the Federal Ministry of Economics did not want to comment on the report. An HHLA spokesman also told the dpa news agency about the report: “No comment”.
According to the information from NDR and WDR, the leading Ministry of Economic Affairs has already registered the issue for final rejection in the Federal Cabinet because it is a matter of critical infrastructure. It is therefore worrying that the planned participation could create a “potential for blackmail”.
China is by far the most important trading partner in Europe’s third largest seaport. The Cosco Group, which also operates one of the world’s largest container shipping companies, has had its ships moored at the CTT for decades. CTT with four berths and 14 container gantries is one of three container terminals operated by HHLA in the Port of Hamburg. In return, Cosco wants to concentrate its cargo flows in the Hanseatic city, CTT is to become a preferred transshipment point in Europe.
According to the report, time is of the essence: “If the Federal Cabinet does not make a decision and no extension of the deadline is agreed, the deal would automatically come about according to the law,” write NDR and WDR. “According to the current status, that would be the case at the end of October – shortly before a planned visit to China by Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD)”.
Traffic light factions are up in arms against a possible decision by the Chancellery
The report caused indignation in all factions in the traffic light coalition. The deputy leader of the Greens parliamentary group, Konstantin von Notz, criticized the short message service Twitter: “I think it is highly problematic and wrong if parts of our critical structure in the Port of Hamburg are to be sold to a digital dictatorship like China.” He added: “We should at least do something learn from the gas dependency disaster.”
Marcel Emmerich, chairman of the Greens in the interior committee, said: “Our critical infrastructure must not become a pawn for the geopolitical interests of others. Europe is a strong trading and economic area and our ports are also among the facilities that are particularly worthy of protection.” And added: “Just as Sigmar Gabriel sold gas storage facilities to Russia back then, Olaf Scholz now absolutely wants to sell parts of the Port of Hamburg to China. Apparently the SPD has learned nothing.”
FDP General Secretary Bijan Djir-Sarai also sharply criticized the planned deal. “The CCP must not have access to our country’s critical infrastructure. That would be a big mistake and also a risk,” Djir-Saai told the dpa news agency. He warned against being naïve towards the Chinese rulers. Djir-Sarai: “The hard-line power interests they pursue are not in our interest. The fact remains: China is an important trading partner, but also a systemic rival. After that we should act.”
The FDP member of the Bundestag Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann found: “The sale of critical infrastructure to China is a blatant mistake. Who is actually advising the Federal Chancellor?” The parliamentary director of the FDP, Johannes Vogel, also called a Chinese entry a mistake and wrote: The Communist Party would then have influence over all major European ports. “We shouldn’t be that stupid – we should be able to learn!”
The report on the Chancellor’s plans was also heavily criticized in his own parliamentary group. Detlef Müller, deputy parliamentary group leader of the SPD, said on Twitter: “Critical infrastructure, a big topic in the last few days, belongs in the public domain!”
Several members of the Bundestag from the traffic light factions referred to statements by the German security authorities on Monday in a public meeting of the Parliamentary Control Committee of the Bundestag. The President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Thomas Haldenwang, had said: “Russia is the storm, China is climate change.” The security authorities have therefore been warning of dependencies for some time. No situation should be allowed “where the Chinese state might be able to influence political events in Germany via critical infrastructure”.
Criticism also from the opposition
Many of the tweets from the members of the Bundestag were dropped during the Chancellor’s government statement on Thursday morning – in which Scholz also announced better protection of critical infrastructure.
Criticism also came from the opposition. CDU foreign politician Jürgen Hardt warned against the entry of the Chinese state-owned company Cosco into parts of the port of Hamburg. “As long as China doesn’t allow us to invest in logistics infrastructure there, we shouldn’t allow it here either,” said the foreign policy spokesman for the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, Hardt WELT. “The participation of a Chinese state-owned company would mean that China would receive sensitive, internal insights into the strategy of Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG. That’s exactly what we shouldn’t be serving the Chinese on a silver platter too!”
Union parliamentary group leader Jens Spahn spoke out against a Chinese entry. Spahn told the German Press Agency 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 more. “That would be a fatal mistake.” Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) was right. “German ports do not belong in Chinese hands. Especially since Europeans cannot participate in ports in China.”
Rolf Langhammer from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy explained in an interview with the ARD magazine “Panorama”: “The long-term strategy of the Chinese could of course be to seize control of the entire supply chain, both digital and maritime in Europe.” China could get a competitive advantage or initiate an “abuse of economic power”.
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