It came as a surprise that Germany was so tough on us. In response to our congratulatory message, when German Chancellor Merz talked about Sino-German relations, his tone clearly became tougher! New German Chancellor Merz still believes that China will continue to be an important partner for Germany and the EU, but he would adopt a tougher policy towards China, which he calls "strategic de-risking."
To be honest, with even very tough President von der Leyen changing her stance and no longer mentioning the de-risking policy, it was unexpected that new German Chancellor Merz still insists on this so-called strategic de-risking. What does "strategic de-risking" mean? It probably includes three aspects. First, it means reducing excessive reliance on critical goods and products from China by Germany and the EU. Second, it may involve strengthening export controls on sensitive and key technologies. Third, it cannot be ruled out that Germany might cooperate globally with the US to counterbalance us.
Obviously, compared with friendly Merkel and pragmatic Scholz, this new German Chancellor's attitude toward us has regressed significantly. Of course, from our perspective, we have never regarded Germany as a competitor and believe there is extensive cooperation space between China and Germany.
However, if Germany pursues policies that harm Sino-German relations at the cost of damaging our interests, we will certainly take necessary measures to defend our own interests without hesitation. With Trump's changing attitude toward the Ukraine war and the US initiating a trade war, the relationship between the US and Europe has long since returned to the past. We believe that the reality of the global landscape changing will make Germany return to a pragmatic level.
Source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1832158966310923/
Disclaimer: The article represents the author's personal views.