Beijing has summoned the German ambassador to China after foreign minister Annalena Baerbock called president Xi Jinping a “dictator”, Berlin has said, in the latest flare-up of tensions between the countries. While they are major trade partners, Berlin-Beijing ties have been fraying as some in the German government take a harder line over issues ranging from human rights to Taiwan. Baerbock, who has pushed for a more hawkish line, made the remarks in a Fox News interview on Thursday during a visit to the US. While talking about the Ukraine…
Tag: Germany
Chinese Cars Star at Munich Auto Show, Underscoring German Economic Woes
For decades, the phrase “Made in Germany” signaled cutting-edge automotive technology and design. But now German automakers are falling behind in the global race to produce more electric vehicles, and some executives are using a new catchphrase to describe how quickly they need to catch up: “China speed.” The term reflects the rapid transformation of the Chinese car industry into a battery-powered juggernaut. And that speed was on display Monday at I.A.A. Mobility, a massive auto show in Munich, with newcomers from China stealing the show. BYD, an all-electric Chinese…
Germany Says China Trade Could Create Perilous Dependence
The German government approved its first national strategy on China on Thursday, defining the Asian superpower as “a partner, competitor and systemic rival” and calling for a significant reduction of dependency on Chinese goods while still maintaining economic ties worth hundreds of billions of dollars. The new policy calls for export controls and the screening of investments by German companies doing business in China to protect the flow of sensitive technology and know-how. Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government adopted the 64-page document on Thursday, after months of discussions and delays stemming…
As Germany’s Business Model Wobbles, Firms Reassess Reliance on China
Amid the ruins of a city ravaged by World War II, Karl Haeusgen’s grandfather invented a hydraulic pump he was so proud of that he founded a company to sell it. Back then, there were no revenue projections or five-year growth strategies. The plan was survival: “It was just about grabbing chances,” Mr. Haeusgen said. Seven decades and three generations later the family business, Hawe Hydraulics, ships some 2,500 parts around the globe. Instead of scrambling for sales, though, Mr. Haeusgen must parse the geopolitics of an ever more polarized world. “A third of…
Can China Export Its Way Out of Its Economic Slump?
China dominates the global sale of solar panels and has caught up with Japan as the world’s largest car exporter. It is even gaining in the worldwide sale of low-tech products like shoes. Now Beijing is weighing whether to deploy its considerable power as an exporter to try to stabilize an economy laboring under distinctly homegrown problems — a real estate crisis and weak spending by consumers still cautious after nearly three years of stringent pandemic restrictions. The decision could reverberate throughout the global economy and provoke a backlash among…
German Defense Minister Vows Stronger Geopolitical Role Ahead of U.S. Visit
BERLIN — In an interview before his first official visit to Washington, Germany’s defense minister staked out a broad geopolitical vision, taking pains to indicate that his country is ready to assume a more assertive stance in the face of growing international instability. The defense minister, Boris Pistorius, laid out plans for Germany to increase its arms deliveries and take a more robust role in both the Indo-Pacific region and in military leadership in Europe. He spoke to The New York Times before traveling to meet his U.S. counterpart, Secretary of…
Germany and China Try to Reset Relations for a Changed World
BERLIN — When Germany and China launched their government consultations a decade ago, Angela Merkel was still chancellor and their relations seemed an endless opportunity for trade and profit. The dialogues were a time for pomp and circumstance, trade deals and signing ceremonies, red carpets and military salutes. But on Tuesday, Germany’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, and China’s premier, Li Qiang, will relaunch the consultations after a three-year hiatus during the pandemic in a very different world — one with new calculations over political vulnerabilities and economic dependencies. The two countries return…
Europeans Now See Russia as an Adversary, but Not China, Poll Says
When Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany and President Emmanuel Macron of France recently made separate but friendly visits to China, it sparked considerable dismay among their fellow leaders in Europe and Washington. Especially given Beijing’s “no-limits partnership” with Russia, the efforts to treat China as what Mr. Macron called “a strategic and global partner,” rather than as a rival, were met with sometimes caustic criticism. Yet, an extensive opinion poll released on Wednesday, shows that Europeans tend to agree with them. Even as Beijing moves closer to Moscow, and despite…
Russia Denounces West Over Drone Strike on Moscow
A day after a drone strike on Moscow, Kremlin officials jumped on the refusal of Ukrainian allies to denounce the attack as proof that Russia’s real war was with the West. The Kremlin’s spokesman, Dmitri S. Peskov, said Russia “would have preferred to hear at least some words of condemnation” from Western capitals. “We will calmly and deliberately think how to deal with this,” he said. While none of Ukraine’s allies went so far as to endorse the drone attack, Britain’s foreign secretary said on Tuesday that Kyiv had “the…
Europe Frets U.S. Battery Factory Subsidies Will Hurt, Not Help
European leaders complained for years that the United States was not doing enough to fight climate change. Now that the Biden administration has devoted hundreds of billions of dollars to that cause, many Europeans are complaining that the United States is going about it the wrong way. That new critique is born of a deep fear in Germany, France, Britain and other European countries that Washington’s approach will hurt the allies it ought to be working with, luring away much of the new investments in electric car and battery factories not already…