Tiroler Tageszeitung, editorial, July 14, 2023 edition. By CHRISTIAN JENTSCH. "Fear of and good business with China".

2023-07-13 22:00:15

Innsbruck (OTS) – In the struggle for world domination of tomorrow, the established world power USA and the emerging world power China are on a confrontational course. Fear is spreading, also in Europe. Now Berlin is looking for the balancing act.

The Russian war of aggression in Ukraine has united the West and restored its already declared dead military alliance NATO to its old strength. At least at first glance. But one thing is not only clear in Washington: the Russian aggression shocked Europe in the first place. A possible military confrontation between the USA and China, between the two superpowers, would have a completely different dimension and would probably result in a global catastrophe.
And yet the conflict between the USA, as the leading power in the Western liberal world order established after the Second World War, and the emerging world power China, which is trying to cast a spell over the so-called Global South and has Russia as an appendage at its side, keeps coming back fueled. They have chosen each other as their main strategic rivals. On the one hand, China’s strongman Xi Jinping is increasingly self-confidently questioning the unrestricted leadership role of the United States on his doorstep. On the other hand, the US has no intention of leaving the field. Not even in the conflict over Taiwan.
Despite the strong interdependence of the two economies, the words decoupling and containment are making the rounds, especially during US pre-election times. Washington wants to slow down China in terms of high technology, while China on the other hand wants to cut off the supply of important raw materials to the West.
Amid the thunder between Washington and Beijing, Europe is trying to figure out its way of dealing with China. So far, people have preferred to take cover. But the pressure from Washington to side more clearly with the United States and the warnings from Beijing not to damage economic relations in the long term are forcing Germany in particular to perform a balancing act. Yesterday the government in Berlin presented a strategy for dealing with China for the first time. Although Beijing is criticized for its increasingly aggressive foreign policy and disregard for human rights, the country cannot and does not want to jeopardize its extensive economic relations.
“De-risking”, i.e. risk minimization, is the new magic word with which the square of the circle is to be achieved. Avoiding dependencies, but not slowing down good business with China is the motto. After all, China is the most important sales market for the German automotive industry. Incidentally, despite the aggressive rhetoric, Washington and Beijing cannot and do not want to simply sever the close economic ties.