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Dangerous partners
: Russian President
Vladimir Putin
and Chinese President
Xi Jinping
Photo: Alexei Druzhinin / dpa
The German economy handles around a quarter of its gigantic foreign trade volume with countries that are not so particular about the freedom of their citizens.
Evil oppressive regimes can be found among them, but also illiberal democracies that are only considered “partially free”.
These intensive economic relations are usually not a problem either: as long as Western companies respect their domestic standards, trade relations and exchange can promote social liberalization.
But there are two big problems: China and Russia.
This is where things may even become dangerous for companies.
This is due to the sheer size of these countries and their aggressive internal and external policies, to which they also subordinate the economy.
Anyone who ensnares their leaders is jeopardizing their own political goodwill.
Western customers, employees, investors and the public are sensitive to whether companies allow themselves to be compromised while doing business.
And executives who feel called upon to pursue a kind of sideline foreign policy with their contacts and deals quickly clash with the governments of those countries in Europe and North America with which German companies still do three-quarters of their foreign business.
The next takeover, product approval or trade dispute may then lack the political support they urgently need.
Autocrats can be toxic partners.
In this respect, keeping your distance would be an imperative of strategic common sense.
It is all the more astonishing that German managers are undeterred in seeking close contact with the regimes in Moscow and Beijing.
The auto bosses flatter China's Communist Party leadership.
And the German Economic Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations is still holding on to a planned meeting with Vladimir Putin – that is, with a ruler who uses armed force to shift state borders;
who supports dictators who shoot at their own people;
and which, last but not least, threatens our Eastern European NATO partners.
Fatal if the impression is created that the German economy does not care about all this.
Sure, the economic opportunities in China and Russia are huge.
And at the operational level, companies should strive to remain able to work even in times of crisis.
But the closing of ranks that attracts the public has a different quality.
The visit to Putin by then-Siemens boss Joe Kaeser shortly after the annexation of Crimea in 2014 is still badly remembered.
The fact that a group of Italian top managers recently held a conference with Putin, even though Prime Minister Mario Draghi had urgently asked for a refusal, doesn't make it any better.
Germany's international reputation is already tarnished.
Because of the unclear attitude towards Russia, but also because of an often economically opportunistic foreign policy course.
The damage to reputation caused by Russia's Nord Stream 2 pipeline, for example, can hardly be quantified.
In view of the increasing international tensions, the federal government will have little choice but to reduce the influence of corporations on foreign policy.
Economic and political interests can no longer be separated so easily.
The West will only be able to assert itself if it acts as one and does not allow itself to be played off against one another over gas supplies or potential sales markets.
The industry association BDI has stated that China is a “systemic competitor” – and asked for political support.
As far as understandable.
However, that also means that the Federal Republic should actively support friends and partners who are being sanctioned by Beijing, such as Lithuania or Australia;
or who even feel threatened in their existence, like Taiwan.
Companies that thwart such a course find themselves in a dilemma that can hardly be resolved.
Company leaders should adapt to the changed geostrategic situation.
They become political actors.
With this comes responsibility that goes beyond the purely business sphere.
Fortunately, not every manager cares about their own reputation as much as Gerhard Schröder, the ex-chancellor and member of the Bald Gazprom supervisory board.