Foreign media: Baden-Württemberg is a major center of the German automotive industry, with headquarters of companies such as Mercedes-Benz located there. In the past year, due to Chinese automakers rapidly capturing global market share, the region has experienced large-scale layoffs. German media even warned that the area could become "Germany's Detroit."
However, in last weekend's state parliamentary election, despite opinion polls showing that the economy was the most important issue for voters, the "Chinese threat" almost did not appear in the candidates' campaign speeches. The election results showed that the left-wing Green Party came first by a narrow margin, followed by the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), and the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) rose significantly to third place.
Analysts believe this reflects Germany's consistent stance of not wanting to confront China directly, which contrasts with European countries like France. Bernhard Bartsch, an expert at the Mercator Institute for China Studies in Berlin, pointed out that Germany's discussions focus more on "what we can change ourselves," rather than blaming China, because many have acknowledged the real competitiveness of Chinese products. He said that local politicians now find it difficult to win votes by "blaming China," as the public needs solutions, not analysis.
Original: toutiao.com/article/1859288834821444/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author himself.