The visit of German chancellor Olaf Scholz to China this month generated mixed reactions, generally unsupportive, across European capitals as also in Washington. Within the EU, for example, the French leader Macron, amid a growing schism with Germany, is “irritated” with Scholz’s solo visit to Beijing. Several European countries have criticized Scholz for “unilateral diplomacy” and for the visit’s “naively” wrong timing. In China, the government and official media were delighted and over-excited with the German chancellor’s less than 24-hour “whirlwind visit,” but Chinese skeptics are calling for caution and pragmatism.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Beijing this month accompanied by the leaders of several top German businesses in China, sending a clear message to all those in Germany, in the EU capitals, and in Washington who strongly criticized the visit: business with the world’s largest market must continue and “decoupling” with China is neither good for Germany nor beneficial for Europe. The less-than-day-long visit by the chancellor to the Chinese capital – with no plan to visit the Great Wall – typically fitted into the caricature of how the Germans are perceived, i.e. “all work, no pleasure.” Realizing the importance of the business-like “flash visit,” the Chinese too cleared all hurdles in the way of the Scholz entourage’s one-day business outing to Beijing and lifted the Covid-19 standard 7-day mandatory hotel quarantine requirement for all foreign travelers.
Interestingly, while chancellor Scholz was shaking hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the Golden Hall of the Great Hall of the People, the US secretary of state Anthony J. Blinken was telling reporters at the end of the 2-day G7 foreign ministers meeting in the western German town of Münster: “We [G7] are clear-eyed about need to align on China.” Perhaps unable to interpret what “clear eye” means in Chinese, a section of the media in China reported Blinken as saying the “United States strongly agrees” with Scholz’s stance on his trip to Beijing. The Chinese article, entitled “Scholz goes to China, Blinken Responds,” further stressed Blinken’s remark that “in the past two years, the G7 consensus, including Germany, on the China issue has become increasingly strong and clear.”
It is indeed true Blinken did make the remark as reported in the Chinese article mentioned above. However, far from endorsing chancellor Scholz’s China visit, what the secretary of state clearly said in response to a question about how he [Blinken] viewed the German chancellor’s sudden visit was this: “Chancellor Scholz laid out in very clear terms his objectives for his visit to Beijing in an op-ed that was published this week. And we strongly agree with what he shared in that op-ed. That includes, by the way, encouraging President Xi to press President Putin on never using a nuclear weapon of any kind.” (Emphasis added) Obviously, the Chinese article did not mention Scholz’s intent to ask President Xi to press his Russian counterpart to never use a nuclear weapon. Neither did the article clarify that Blinken only spoke about endorsing the op-ed written by Scholz.
Needless to say, the Chinese article generated scores of reader’s comments criticizing Blinken’s view of Scholz’s visit as hypocritical. One reader scornfully ridiculed the secretary of state and asked: “If Blinken’s view is also the position of the US government, why is the US then carrying on with a trade war against China? Why is the Biden administration targeting Huawei? Why did the US declare a chip and semiconductor embargo against China?” Another Chinese reader wrote: “Germany is a colony of America.” A Chinese digital news and current affairs platform, known for its politically “nationalist” views, in a more pragmatic yet critical tone credited the German business community for the “uneasy,” less than 24-hour, “flash visit” by the German chancellor. A signed commentary on its website observed: “From a certain viewpoint, it is more a visit pushed by the German businesses in China, and not that chancellor Scholz leading a German business delegation to visit China.”
Curiously, some Chinese experts have questioned Scholz’s sincerity and warned Beijing to be more cautious than illusory. “Until yesterday, [Scholz] was spitting venom and was campaigning for the world to ‘decouple’ from China and calling for a ‘de-sinicized’ world,” a commentary said the day after the visitor left. Such a view was more in tandem with several readers’ comments in response to the earlier article mentioned above. Admitting Scholz traveled to Beijing under a lot of stress and anxiety, the commentary nevertheless blamed none other than Scholz himself for the opposition to his visit. “The mounting pressure and rising anxiety come from the accusations against him within Germany and the EU. And, of course, the anger is emanating from the United States. Sadly, it is he and his government that aimed at destroying Merkel’s Sino-German legacy,” it said.
Disagreeing with opinions in China such as those interpreting Scholz’s visit will not only promote China-Germany relations to increase trust, clear doubts, and deepen cooperation, but also help China-Europe relations as the ballast stone (emphasis given), a counterview such as articles cited in the paragraph above says, it is naïve to expect the German leader to show an “independent and pragmatic understanding of China.” Many scholars in China have noted, that for some time now factors such as the high tide of de-globalization, with no end in sight to the Ukraine crisis, as well as “coercive diplomacy” being pushed by the US on the European allies to contain China, etc., have been gaining traction in the European political arena.
At another level, it is significant to note most official media in China have referred to Scholz’s op-ed (cited above) in order to justify the expectations of Beijing, of the CPC, and above all of President Xi that the German chancellor “special” visit will not only promote Sino-German relations to a new height but will also be worthy of reference for other European countries. However, dismissing a Global Times editorial that describes Scholz’s visit as “special” and which claims with Scholz as the leader of Germany, Europe will eventually return to being China’s comprehensive strategic partner, a Chinese skeptic wrote: “The conclusion that Scholz’s visit is seeking strategic autonomy from the United States and that Germany’s China policy will undergo a dramatic U-turn is premature, to say the least.”
Finally, several Chinese commentaries have pointed out that the current US strategy of prolonging the ongoing war in Europe is aimed at de-industrializing Europe, creating political turmoil in Europe, and that Europe’s hard times may have just begun. Some Chinese analysts also wondered if it is worth giving a benefit of the doubt to the political clout Scholz carried on his China visit. Scholz did not display any sign that he was in a position to discuss German-China friendship, or rather China-Europe friendship, a Chinese commentator observed. “Yet he promises to be the only German leader at the moment with whom China can make a deal. It would be really worth looking forward to waiting and watching what kind of change Scholz can bring about in German-China or Europe-China ties,” the commentator noted in a witty remark.