Scholz in China : traveling with heavy luggage

Chancellor Scholz is flying to China today. The criticism of the trip is massive in advance. The federal government is also expecting a difficult dialogue. Does Scholz strike the right note in Beijing?

The recent conversation with the German security authorities is burned into the memory of Green politician Konstantin von Notz. Von Notz is not only parliamentary group leader, he also heads the parliamentary oversight body for oversight of the intelligence services. In the middle of last month, a public hearing was held. And at the same time, according to von Notz in conversation with him ARD Capital Studiothe warnings about China were very clear.

According to this, China is not making simple economic policies. Rather, the country of 1.4 billion people is pursuing a strategy “that goes hand in hand with China’s own power thinking but also with China’s imperial claims.” Von Notz can hardly hide his horror at the chancellor’s trip to China at this point in time. In any case, he would have little desire to shake hands with “a dictator” so soon after his rise to power. “But of course the chancellor decides where the chancellor goes.”

Visit to the party congress of the CP

What von Notz means and what irritates not only him at the time of the trip: The party conference of the Chinese Communist Party ended just under two weeks ago. There, head of state and party leader Xi Jinping has once again expanded his power with a historic third term as Secretary General. Katja Drinhausen, head of the Politics and Society department at the Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS), puts it this way: “Instead of making room for a younger successor after two terms as Secretary-General, Xi Jinping is setting himself up as his own successor.”

At the same party congress, Xi Jinping also explicitly left open the use of force against Taiwan. And then the disturbing scene at the beginning of the final event in the Great Hall of the People: the former head of state Hu Jintao is led out of the hall. Shamefully and obviously against his will. Now Olaf Scholz is the first Western head of government to visit after this party conference.

“Challenging” talks expected

And so the opposition railed against the chancellor’s trip. CDU leader Friedrich Merz finds them unprecedented – in a negative sense. “No one before him would have done it that way. Nobody would have done that before him.” And then Merz adds: “It’s outrageous.” After all, CDU Chancellor Merkel has been to China twelve times in her 16-year tenure. Like her, her successor is now traveling with a business delegation.

After the Russia debacle, von Notz called the idea of ​​change through trade naïve. After the Cosco deal at the port of Hamburg, will the chancellor go it alone with the Beijing trip? Not at all, according to the federal government. But of course you are aware that you have “demanding” discussions ahead of you. The topics ranged from Ukraine to Taiwan to globalization. The dialogue is difficult, but no less important.

No, no arguments with the chancellor about the trip to China, agrees Green Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. At the same time, it reminds of the planned new China strategy. Cooperation yes, but with fair rules and respect for human rights. Unusual enough: Just two days before Scholz’ trip, human rights representatives invite you to a press conference. Topic: The China risk.

Aggressions against Taiwan, the suppression of the Uyghurs, the Tibet policy – Wenzel Michalski’s list is long. He is Germany director of Human Rights Watch. “We can see with our eyes how the situation there is deteriorating. So this visit comes at a – shall we say – very interesting time.” And that is also part of China’s approach: Shortly before the press conference, the Chinese embassy contacted the organizers. This looks like an attempt to influence, even if no details from the conversation were given. Michalski does not want to cancel the trip, but expects to give the “unpleasant” enough space. So the question of human rights.

Lesson from experience with Russia?

Of course they will be addressed, according to the Chancellery. That’s just part of the difficult conversations. After all, the chancellor isn’t traveling as the head of Deutschland AG and courting customers. And when it comes to the economy in exchange with Germany’s most important trading partner, then it’s more about issues such as the protection of intellectual property. Fair and equal conditions over here and over there. Free traffic. Nor do they want to accept that there is a lack of coordination with European partners or the USA. On the contrary: the exchange is very close, but the Chancellor does not apply for a business trip to Washington or Paris.

Ultimately, it’s nothing more than a “day trip” (government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit) to the Far East. In view of his short trip, the Federal Chancellor simply speaks of an “inaugural visit”. Just in time for the G20 summit, just in time for German-Chinese government consultations next year. And his tip to German companies: “don’t put all your eggs in one basket”. The aim is, of course, that no new one-sided dependency arises. “That is certainly the lesson that many are also drawing from the development that Russia has made,” says Olaf Scholz. The Green politician von Notz sums it up in a somewhat more radical way. It needs a fresh start. It’s just a short trip to Beijing, with not even an overnight stay. And yet: the chancellor is traveling with heavy luggage.