To rely on foreign technology all the time is to fall into a dependence, humiliating and dangerous, because of this dependence, it is constantly expanding and moving from one field to another. – Russian President Vladimir Putin
Putin was not on a whim. After the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine, he was deeply sanctioned by the United States, so he made a painful speech. Coincidentally, German Foreign Minister Berbock further stated that not only does it need to get rid of its dependence on Russia for energy and materials, but also that Berlin’s upcoming China strategy is to consider how to face China’s dependence.
“China is a systematic competitor, and we have to make it clear that no one can blackmail us.” How can we openly “blackmail” Germany, the smart technology powerhouse of “Industry 4.0”, in broad daylight? It turned out to be pointing directly at China. Germany wants to show independence, and its attitude towards China is to “cooperate where it can cooperate, but also take into account the entire independent European sovereign strategy.” Does Berbock want to say that Germany will never trust China? German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier jumped out and explained that everyone should not make a guess. He said recently that in addition to resolutely not relying on Russian oil and natural gas, “Because the trade relationship between China and Germany is too close, we plan to A step toward decoupling from the Chinese economy.”
According to data released by the German Federal Statistics Office on February 18 this year, the bilateral trade volume between China and Germany in 2021 will increase significantly year-on-year. China has become Germany’s most important trading partner for the sixth consecutive year. The Netherlands, the United States and Germany are ranked No. Second and third. The road to win-win cooperation between China and Germany is tortuous and long. In 1980, China ranked 35th in Germany’s import source ranking, and its status was obviously unimportant; in 1990, the ranking rose to 14th. After 2015, China has always been the country with the most imported products from Germany. At the same time, China and Germany began a relatively deep economic and technological strategic cooperation.
KUKA, which is engaged in the production of industrial robots and factory automation and has a history of more than 100 years, was sold to the Chinese-funded Midea Group in 2016. In 2017, Premier Li Keqiang held talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin. Li Keqiang took the initiative to propose that China is willing to better align development strategies such as “Made in China 2025” (China’s blueprint for becoming an industrial power) with Germany’s “Industry 4.0” (Germany’s first plan to enter the fourth industrial revolution) and other development strategies to deepen manufacturing, energy , aviation, innovation, SMEs and other cooperation. “Sino-German cooperation does not exist. China is a technologically backward country that wants to sway Germany. This kind of thinking is no longer in line with the era of progress. The mainland commented, “Germany’s domestic market is very small, and the main support of its economy is exports, while China has the largest market.” However, Germany also recognizes that there is competition between China and Germany in the industrial field, and this competition will increase. “Instead of this, it is better for both sides to strengthen cooperation, which is beneficial to both sides.”
South Korea is ahead of Germany. During President Yoon Seok-hye’s earlier attendance at the NATO summit, the government spokesman unabashedly emphasized that the era of South Korea’s export economic boom through China is over, and the authorities have proposed an alternative, which is “by strengthening cooperation with Europe.” cooperation to promote the South Korean economy.” The Korean media interpreted the government’s remarks as the impending implementation of the China-South Korea decoupling policy.
Is it that simple to de-sinicize? Not to mention that nearly 70% of the key raw materials for South Korea’s semiconductors come from China. South Korea’s semiconductors and electronic products have strong sales to China. After Germany and South Korea queue up to decouple from China, they will find an alternative trading partner there, which might affect the domestic economy and cause unemployment. Voters ask the incumbent, “Dad, where are we going?” How do you answer?