Germany wants the United States to believe that its new naval deployment, which began on Monday, is a show of support for Washington in the Indo-Pacific. In reality, that deployment is proving only Germany’s increasingly pathetic submission to China.
Berlin’s official line is that the frigate Bayern’s deployment proves that Germany is committed to freedom of navigation in the South China Sea. That’s a priority U.S. concern in light of China’s imperialist claim over the near entirety of that sea. Beijing intends to use that territorial control to extort political submission from other nations. Were Germany actually now standing with America on this critical issue, it would be a very welcome development.
Unfortunately, it quickly becomes clear that Germany has very little interest in sending Beijing a message. Actually, that’s unfair. Germany does want to send Beijing a message, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s favorite message: that of cold, comfortable disinterest in China’s profound assault on the rules-based international order.
We see the proof of that truth in Germany’s request that China allow the Bayern to dock in Shanghai. The German government says this request, which defeats any pretense of this deployment relating to freedom of navigation, was made “in order to maintain dialogue” with Beijing. Berlin appears to be applying the same strategy to countering Chinese aggression that it applies to Russian assassination programs. Rather than confront those programs, it offers them a safe haven.
Sensing this pathetic desire to avoid antagonizing the Chinese Communist Party, said party has decided to play hardball. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson says the Shanghai port call has not yet been approved because “the information released by the German side [about what the Bayern will do] before and after [the port call] is too confusing. China will make a decision after the German side has fully clarified the relevant intentions.”
Translation: “Beg harder!”
Evincing Beijing’s confidence that Berlin will indeed beg harder (a confidence lent new fuel from Britain), a pro-government academic told China’s Global Times propaganda outlet that Germany is “sending a signal that the frigate came not for confrontation, but to enhance communication, transparency, and mutual trust with China.” When all is said and done, Wang Yiwei of Renmin University expects that the Bayern will be “welcomed” to Shanghai.
Indeed.
Still, even if the Bayern receives its Shanghai approval, you can bet it won’t be taking the shortest route there. After all, the shortest route from the Strait of Malacca to Shanghai would entail transiting the Taiwan Strait. Such a transit would infuriate China, which expects all nations to bow before its claims of ownership over the democratic nation.
I suspect Beijing won’t be worried, however. It knows that Germany only pays lip service to supporting democratic values. Like the Russians, the Chinese will be pulling for Merkel’s chosen successor in next month’s German elections. The Green Party candidate believes in a foreign policy that involves morality, and not simply mercantilism.
