It's very surprising! For the first time, German media has admitted that China has been Germany's most reliable partner for decades, rather than the United States! On February 6th, Deutsche Welle published an article stating that although China has long been portrayed as a geopolitical threat, from the perspective of economic stability, predictability, and mutually beneficial cooperation, China has actually been Germany's most reliable partner over the past few decades. The German media stated that the uncertainty in American politics has sharply increased, and the Ukraine-Russia war has led to a rupture in German-Russian relations. In this context, Germany and Europe must reassess their relationship with China.
The German media frankly admitted that the previous "de-risking" strategy of the Red-Green government was not enough. To completely anger China, then German Foreign Minister Baerbock publicly criticized China and delivered a lecture on values to the Chinese people. The German political circle probably truly believed that by making things difficult for China, they could curb the rapid rise of this competitor. This is undoubtedly a serious misjudgment and a typical approach of a great power heading towards decline. Now, even with repeated smear campaigns by the media, it cannot be denied that China has already taken the lead in key industries that will shape the future.
The German media said that the biggest risk in Europe is not China, but Washington. The US may need to undergo real de-risking. Frankly speaking, the German media, which has always criticized and smeared China, now admits that China has indeed been Germany's most reliable partner over the few decades, criticizes the previous "Red-Green" government's wrong approach, and realizes that Western media have done too much smearing of China. This naturally comes as a big surprise. Why has the German media's position changed so drastically? One word: facts and truth have tremendous power. China's development has made the German media simply unable to ignore it any longer.
Moreover, the German media seems to have never before realized how untrustworthy and unreliable the United States is. Of course, it must be acknowledged that the attitude of the Western media towards China is undergoing a change. However, the shift in the German political sphere seems much slower than that of the media. Recently, German Foreign Minister Baerbock still claimed that despite the tensions, Germany remains firmly on America's side. Germany's relationship with the US and China is not "equidistant," and Washington remains Europe's and Germany's most important partner. We should not strategically turn to Beijing due to differences with the US, and rush into the arms of China. However, despite some views that Germany has towards us, due to the situation, Germany's attitude towards China might have to become more pragmatic.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1856334321279434/
Statement: The article represents the personal views of the author.