BERLIN (Reuters) - As the German Foreign Ministry finalizes its government's strategy towards China and tries to overcome the latest differences over the most appropriate policy to deal with a "partner and adversary" country, Chinese Premier Li Qiyang will visit Berlin and Munich with a large ministerial delegation, where government consultations between the two countries began on Tuesday.
This type of consultation is held by Germany with 12 countries, including China, through which it seeks to conduct an in-depth discussion of everything related to its relationship with these countries, and this applies to this year's session, which will discuss - according to Berlin - economic, political, security and environmental files.
China's premiership said in a statement issued by its embassy in Berlin that Beijing hoped to hold consultations that promote "stability, prosperity and international security."
Chinese and German officials on the sidelines of German-Chinese government consultations in Berlin (Reuters)
Risk reduction or disengagement?
This visit, like others, has a protocol part regarding who receives who and how the reception ceremony was conducted, and other details indicate that the Chinese delegation was keen from the beginning to take pictures that express the state of the relationship with a country that China considers "key" to Europe.
The Chinese delegation knows the impact of these images in Beijing, but before that it knows their impact in Washington, "which is not impressed by the relations of Germany and China nor the European policy independent of it towards Beijing because it wants to win Berlin and Brussels in addition to its policy of disengagement with China," according to Sven Hansen, an expert on Chinese-German relations, in an interview with Al Jazeera Net.
Observers of the consultations in Berlin agree that two key terms govern the relationship between Germany and the United States on the one hand, and China on the other: "risk reduction and disengagement."
While Berlin rejects "disengagement" with China and seeks to maintain the partnership with it, while minimizing the risks of such a relationship, Washington prefers a "disengagement" relationship with Beijing.
Bernt Berger, an expert on China at the think tank DGAP, says that for Joe Biden's administration, the government consultation is "a problem because this administration is preparing for a new relationship with China and arranging its alliances with Europe, and it is criticized by Republicans and accuses Europe of tweeting outside the American flock and pursuing a unilateral policy."
Hansen, who works for the specialized magazine IPG, said Germany's relationship with the two sides was best defined by Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner, who recently said that Washington from Berlin's point of view is a "partner in values" while China is both an "adversary" and a "trading partner".
The rift between the two shores of the Atlantic
According to Hansen, China is trying to encourage Germany and France to distance themselves from their American partner and even work to "break the transatlantic relationship." China is believed to have succeeded with French President Emmanuel Macron but failed with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
On the long list (140 pages) published by Washington last October, through which it wanted to identify China's capabilities in terms of semiconductor trade, artificial intelligence and biotechnology, the expert added that Germany "now looks at these economic sectors from a security point of view" and that it "will follow the United States, but not with blind confidence or with a unified policy, as happened with the Huawei dispute," noting that European companies "will always try to circumvent possible sanctions to deal with China."
Warsaw does not trust Berlin and Paris
From the EU's point of view, this thorny relationship with China is no more distant from the long-standing dispute in Brussels over sensitive foreign issues.
While many observers agree that European policy toward China is "heterogeneous," Hansen points out that Poland, for example, "does not trust Germany and France, but it trusts the United States," while Germany notes that dependence on Washington is "not a permanent state."
The expert on Sino-German relations pointed out that the heterogeneity between the policies of European countries is something that Washington and Beijing exploit at the same time.
He cites history as saying that he "understands" the unwillingness of European countries to be led by Berlin, noting that in the past German governments "solved all problems with money" but did not seek leadership, while the governments of Angela Merkel (2005 to 2016) and the current Schulz government are different, seeking to assume a leadership role in Europe and to obtain the lion's share economically, which annoys smaller countries.
Berger disagrees slightly with his colleague, saying that Europe has learned over time to be able within the EU to pass its agenda with China better than each European country individually, while criticizing Germany and France, the two largest economies in Europe, by saying that Berlin and Paris' pursuit of a unilateral policy with China "does not like" the rest of the EU.
China's economic rise is not Germany's only concern, but mainly its escalation of armaments (Reuters)
Partner and opponent at the same time
While the Chinese delegation is visiting major German companies in the Bavarian capital Munich, Germany's strategy towards China is expected to be revealed in Berlin. While little has been leaked about the strategy, the German government's response to the opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) outlines the strategy.
According to the suggestion, Germany will "quickly" seek to reduce dependence on China and to "diversify" production chains, and not rely on technological advances in third countries that do not share the same system of values with Europe.
This strategy strongly criticizes Beijing's relationship with Moscow and asserts that Germany and EU countries will build their relationship with China on the latter's relationship with Russia. "We know that China is not credibly defending Ukraine's independence and sovereignty, and we are watching how it increases its support for the Russian narrative towards NATO," she literally says.
The German government agrees on what sources China leverages influence in the Balkans, Europe's neighbourhood, Africa, Latin America and the Pacific, and says China is "increasing its dependence on them, which they use to achieve their political interests."
Economic growth is not the German government's only concern, but also armaments. The strategy says Germany "sees China as a military player that enhances its military capabilities and conducts behavior that harms European interests."