(Deutsche Welle Chinese website) The “Daily Mirror” published in Berlin writes that in China, every port and every fleet is firmly controlled by the ruling Communist Party of China. However, China Ocean Shipping Corporation, which is also controlled by the Communist Party of China, recently bought 35% of the Hamburg Container Terminal, but it did not arouse the attention of German political circles. The article titled “China Reached to the German Wharf” reads:
“The website of COSCO Group reads like this:’The vision of COSCO Group is to realize the mission of China’s economic globalization.’ This means that the primary task of COSCO Group is to meet the interests of the Chinese government, and the leadership of COSCO Group is even more important. It is composed of all members of the Communist Party of China. But this does not affect the great economic success of COSCO Group.
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The relationship between COSCO Group and the Port of Hamburg has a history of decades. As early as 1986, Shanghai and Hamburg became sister cities, which not only facilitated the economic and trade exchanges between the two sides, but also enabled the European headquarters of COSCO Group to finally settle in Hamburg. On November 11, 2015, Olaf Scholz, the mayor of Hamburg at the time, visited the headquarters of COSCO Group and met with the then general manager Li Yunpeng. There was a peaceful atmosphere in the photos of the meeting.
However, the relationship between the West and China has changed since then. In the international political arena, China is implementing its own political interests in an increasingly tough posture, and its claim for sovereignty over the South China Sea is very clear. Politically, Beijing is constantly flexing its muscles and consciously using its economic power as a means of pressure.
In Europe, the boundaries between reasonable economic interests and political intimidation have become blurred. In view of the antagonism between China and the United States, China certainly hopes to obtain its own infrastructure in Europe to ensure the smooth flow of trade channels.
COSCO Group plays an extremely important role in the global shipping industry.
But the Chinese government will also take advantage of the economic dependence of other countries and demand that these countries be politically loyal to Beijing. In 2017, Greece rejected a statement submitted by the European Union to the United Nations to criticize China’s human rights situation, and Greece’s most important port is controlled by China. “
Among European countries, Germany has benefited the most from China’s economic take-off, and the economic ties between Germany and China are also the closest. But the “Daily Mirror” article states that, as described in the new book “Silent Aggression” co-authored by German Sinologist Mareike Ohlberg and Australian political scholar Clive Hamilton, China is pursuing A long-term strategy of “compressing politics with business“. At the end of the article:
“Of course, China does not want to offend the few important allies in the Western camp. However, once the next German government advocates strengthening German-American relations, then Beijing will most likely adopt the “business with business” described by Ma Xiaoyue and Hamilton. In view of this, in dealing with Chinese state-owned enterprises, whether it is the Port of Hamburg or the German political circles, the Latin inscription on the Hamburg City Hall should be kept in mind: “The freedom won by the ancestors should be cherished by future generations. ‘.”
After the global outbreak of the new crown epidemic last year, China, the world‘s second largest economy, took the lead in resuming economic growth. However, in recent times, analysts and economic experts have continuously issued warning signals on China’s economic trends and its impact on Europe. “Der Spiegel” weekly reported that:
“One of the risk factors is the energy shortage that China is currently facing. Over the past few weeks, some industrial companies have been forced to reduce their production scale. The local government’s production restriction and shutdown orders have increasingly affected European companies in China. Influence.
Jörg Wuttke, president of the European Chamber of Commerce in China, said that with the beginning of winter heating, the problem of energy shortages is likely to intensify. When talking about the current’chaotic situation’, he complained:’The problem we encountered is a marathon, not a 100-meter sprint. ‘Enterprises often receive temporary notices of power outages, sometimes a day in advance, sometimes even an hour before the start of work. “
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