So far, the anger about the new Supply Chain Act has been limited and only one person in the German public is upset about the law: Wu Ken, the Chinese ambassador. China will not interfere in Germany’s legislation, he said in an interview with Handelsblatt. “But politicizing economic and trade issues distorts the principles of […]
The worst fears are coming true. After Beijing abandoned zero-Covid, the leadership radically opened up and without any plan left the people to their fate. Reliable data is no longer available because testing is virtually non-existent. However, estimates predict millions of infected in the next few weeks – and millions of dead.Reports of overflowing crematories […]
What happens when important pharmaceuticals are suddenly hard to come by? Germany is currently experiencing this. Fever medication for children is harder to get than usual. Although the shortage is not (yet) caused by delivery problems in the Far East, it can serve as a warning to us, write Christian Domke Seidel and Christiane Kuehl. […]
From one extreme to the other: A week ago, millions of people were still locked in their homes because somewhere in their neighborhoods a suspected covid case might exist. Now the opening cannot happen fast enough. China plans to take a crash course in living with the virus.The state media outdo each other in praising the […]
Most economists were well aware that China’s economy is not in the best of shape, considering the numerous lockdowns throughout the country. But the magnitude still surprised many: Last month, China’s foreign trade suffered the worst slump since the start of the Covid pandemic in February 2020. It dropped by 9.5 percent year-on-year, according to […]
Mr. Blank, the first draft of a China strategy from the Green-led Foreign Ministry has surfaced. The Ministry of Economics, also led by the Green Party, has contributed to it. What do you think of the draft?Oliver Blank: I have read through the 60 pages by the Foreign Ministry, and I have to say that […]
It was November 12, 1978, early in the morning, in front of the VW high-rise in Wolfsburg. 14 men from the People’s Republic stood at the entrance. They seemed a bit lost. And in their badly fitting suits, they did not look like government representatives of the world’s most populous nation.One of them handed the […]
It cannot be said that China has not done anything about climate protection. No other country has invested as much in wind power and solar energy in recent years as the People’s Republic. The overall assessment of China’s role at the COP27, which ended last weekend, is nevertheless sobering. That is because China continues to […]
Hopes were high. Despite rising numbers, the leadership in Beijing seemed willing to relax the strict Covid measures at least a little. But with the first death in six months – and in Beijing of all places – the opening is already over. Schools, stores, restaurants, and offices in the capital will have to close […]
Originally, the German government’s China strategy should have been worked out behind closed doors. Officials from all ministries are currently fine-tuning it to reflect their department’s interests.However, an indiscretion has taken the peace out of this process. The draft of the paper from the Foreign Ministry was leaked to the German news website “Der Spiegel”. […]