German Chancellor Olaf Scholz recently visited China, Vietnam, Singapore, and went to Indonesia to attend the G20 summit.
After returning to China, he shared his experience from his recent trip to Asia at the economic forum hosted by the "Süddeutsche Zeitung", lamenting that European and North American countries can enjoy the best economy in the world - "stable growth, low inflation and high employment Gone are the good old days of “rates” and the world is becoming increasingly multipolar and undergoing a fundamental restructuring.
Scholz's remarks revealed his emphasis on Asia and his deep understanding of the changes in the world situation.
Looking back on Scholz's trip to Asia, some media quickly captured the German Chancellor's dissatisfaction with China.
In Hanoi on November 13, Scholz emphasized the need to strengthen cooperation with Vietnam and other countries.
During a visit to Singapore on Nov. 14, he said Germany wanted to strengthen economic ties with the Asia-Pacific region, stressing that this was "far beyond China".
Scholz also stated at the Asia-Pacific Conference of German Enterprises that an EU free trade agreement with India, Indonesia and Australia should be concluded as soon as possible.
In the presence of Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Scholz called on China to further open up its economy, "We demand real market access, develop into a market economy, respect intellectual property rights, and provide fair investment conditions for participating companies."
While attaching great importance to Vietnam, Singapore, and Indonesia, it publicly criticized China, expressing Germany's confidence in balancing its dependence on China, and that China must be the only one.
Before visiting Vietnam and Singapore, the German Chancellor visited China in early November. He was the first leader of a western country to visit China after the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.
The picture shows Chinese President Xi Jinping receiving Scholz at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
This photo is provided by Xinhua News Agency.
(AP)
However, according to German official statistics, China has been Germany's most important trading partner for six consecutive years.
In April 2022, the total trade volume between China and Germany will be 27.1 billion euros, much higher than the total trade volume between Germany and the United States of 19.3 billion euros in the same period.
Singapore is Germany's largest trading partner in ASEAN. The bilateral trade volume between Germany and Singapore was 11 billion euros last year, and the bilateral trade volume between Germany and Vietnam was 7.5 billion euros last year.
In terms of volume, the economic and trade relations between New Zealand and Germany and Vietnam and Germany cannot be compared with China and Germany.
Behind Scholz's saying "far more than China" is China first, and then far more than China.
It is unrealistic to talk about going far beyond China without China-Germany relations.
Scholz's dissatisfaction with China is not groundless.
In the process of the United States asking its allies to choose sides, the pressure on a heavyweight ally like Germany has doubled.
How to balance between China and the United States is a very difficult thing.
Although Germany opposes decoupling and deglobalization, its relationship with China is destined to be no longer comparable to the past.
Scholz lamented that it was far more than China. He was not only dissatisfied with China, but also had to keep a distance from China.
It is most important for Germany to recognize the development and rise of many countries in Asia, realize that the West is no longer in good times, and see the importance of globalization and the unrealistic decoupling from China.
This is one of the rare moments in the Western world where there is no arrogance, but a moment of sobriety.
Leaders of major EU countries with such a clear understanding will openly express their dissatisfaction with China and will actively seek cooperation partners other than China and the United States, but they will certainly not give up taking the express train of China's rise.
German Chancellor: The best time for stable growth, low inflation and high employment in Europe and the United States is over. German Chancellor Scholz’s visit to China is not a betrayal of the United States. Ten details of German Chancellor Scholz’s visit to Beijing
