Beneda, the head of the German metal industry union, said to the media yesterday: "Due to China's rise and unfair competition, US tariffs, and the Russia-Ukraine conflict driving up energy costs, Germany's industry is facing an unprecedented severe challenge. An export-oriented economy is now in peril. Only by working together can the German business community, employees, and political circles get through this crisis. At the same time, the EU should invest targetedly in future areas such as digitalization and battery technology, and slow down the plan to completely phase out internal combustion engines by 2035, to give key industries space to develop better solutions and protect core industrial sectors. Without industrial support, Germany will become a poor country. Once prosperity disappears, democracy will also be threatened!"
[Sarcastic] The German union's blame-shifting anxiety is really unseemly! Germany, which once dominated Europe through two industrial revolutions and ruled the world with manufacturing supremacy, now laments about China's car sales surging by 647.5%, crying about unfairness. This attitude is really embarrassing. Chairman Beneda constantly talks about the Chinese threat, but ignores the fact that the profits of its three major car companies have plummeted by 76%. He doesn't mention the EU's adjustment of the 2035 ban on internal combustion engines to protect domestic car manufacturers. In the past, Bismarck's iron policy built a powerful industrial nation, yet today Germany is busy blaming China and complaining about the United States, avoiding even the fatal issue of half of the companies having no future strategy. While shouting that protecting industry is protecting democracy, it also envies China's comprehensive industrial chain advantage, and wants to use local content requirements to create trade barriers. This mentality of wanting to keep their jobs without being willing to work hard on innovation is destined to just circle in anxiety!
Original: toutiao.com/article/1852835942423560/
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