NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg (Jens Stoltenberg) warned on Monday (November 21) that Western countries must be careful not to create a new dependence on China; Dependence on Russian energy supplies.
"We have noticed that China is increasingly trying to control our critical infrastructure, supply chains, and key industrial areas," he said during a visit to Spain.
Stoltenberg urged allies to improve the resilience of their societies and infrastructure.
"Chinese rare earth minerals are everywhere, including the cellphones we use, our cars, and military equipment," he said. "We cannot give authoritarian regimes any chance to exploit our weaknesses and weaken our capabilities."
In a new NATO strategic concept agreed upon in June, NATO described China as a challenge to the alliance's "interests, security, and values"; China As an economic and military power, "its strategy, intentions, and military build-up remain opaque."
The NATO document reflects a paradigm shift. Previous NATO strategies from 2010 didn't even mention Beijing, which at the time was seen primarily as a benign trading partner and manufacturing base for the West.
On the other hand, people in the German industry appealed for more diversified support outside of China.
Reuters reported that one of Germany's main industry lobby groups on Monday (November 21) called for more support for the industry to diversify trade away from China; new policy.
The German chambers of commerce and industry (DIHK) said planned measures such as stress tests and stricter scrutiny of investment in China, outlined in a draft document seen by Reuters, would become an administrative burden for companies.
“Everything we’ve heard so far about the German government’s China strategy has been extremely defensive,” said Volker Treier, director of foreign trade at the German Chambers of Industry and Commerce. "There is a lack of encouraging strategies for sustainable economic relations, especially in the wider Asia-Pacific region, to avoid unilateral dependencies."
German officials say Russia's war in Ukraine shows that the German economy is too dependent on Russian energy, prompting Re-examine relations with Beijing. German companies have close ties to Beijing, especially in the manufacturing sector.
According to a study by research firm Rhodium Group, just four German companies: carmakers Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Volkswagen, and chemical giant BASF (BASF), accounted for one-third of all European investments in China in 2018-2021.
The German foreign ministry document, which still needs to be agreed upon by other ministries, said key industries, including automobiles and chemicals, must avoid risks to companies and the country from investing too much in China.
A spokesman for Mercedes-Benz declined to comment on the specific policies in the document, but said the company believes "our mission is to work towards greater diversification of the supply chain".
"We need active and resilient European industrial policies and strategies in raw materials, batteries, or semiconductors," the spokesman said.
A BMW spokesman also declined to comment on the details of the document, but said the group's investments in Europe and the Americas were as large as those in China and would "continue to pursue the goal of opening new sales markets in the future".
0 Comments