A German government minister implicitly rebuked German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s China policy on Sunday. More than that, the minister attacked the European Union’s strategy toward Beijing.
Writing for Der Spiegel, Germany’s most influential magazine, Michael Roth, the German government minister for Europe, called for a tougher approach to Beijing. While Roth is a member of the center-left Social Democratic Party, he is also a member of Merkel’s coalition government. His words carry weight both of influence and real political power.
The centerpiece of Roth’s argument is his call for a more balanced EU policy toward China. That matters because China has long relied upon the EU’s voracious appetite for its investments in order to avoid EU political challenges to its authoritarian imperialism. Roth’s rhetoric isn’t quite on the China-skepticism level of U.S. politicians. The EU insistence that China is a critical partner remains: “We can only be successful together with China, particularly when it comes to global issues such as combating epidemics, fighting climate change, and resolving regional conflicts.”
But Roth also observes that “China is also a systemic rival, however, and it is increasingly going on the offensive, also vis-a-vis Europe. Beijing’s ‘mask diplomacy’ coupled with a disinformation campaign in the midst of the coronavirus crisis is just one current example. The leadership of the authoritarian, one-party state passes up no opportunity to drive a wedge between the EU member states and weaken them. We are locked in a tough competition of values stemming from very different concepts of society.”
“In Hong Kong,” Roth continues, “China is currently showing how uncompromisingly it is prepared to assert its claim to power. Beijing’s actions with regard to its territorial claims in the South China Sea as well as serious human rights violations in the province of Xinjiang fit seamlessly into this picture. China is therefore not afraid to violate central principles of the rules-based international order before the eyes of the world.”
This is also quite obvious stuff. Still, coming from the mouth of a high-ranking European politician, it is quite revolutionary. But Roth also notes Europe’s underlying problem. “Unfortunately, we are also seeing that the lure of doing business with China sometimes challenges Europe’s foundation of values. It compromises our credibility and weakens us all if individual members are prepared to undermine European human rights policy for the sake of a supposedly lucrative bilateral ‘deal’ with China.”
So, what should be done?
Roth says that Europe must move away from Chinese 5G-related technologies. “Nothing less than the security of our citizens is at stake here,” he writes. But increasing cooperation across the political bloc is also a prerequisite to address China’s challenges. “We must leave no doubt that our fundamental values are not up for discussion as far as we Europeans are concerned. This is, after all, the essence of our community of values, our European DNA.”
Roth’s “not up for discussion” choice of words here serves as a subtle but significant rebuke to the leadership of the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Speaking in June about China’s Hong Kong security law, von der Leyen claimed that for the “European Union, human rights and fundamental freedoms are nonnegotiable.” Unfortunately, Europe’s response to that security law, which shreds Hong Kong human rights and China’s obligations under a binding treaty, has been pathetic. And thus reflective of European values indeed being up for negotiation. Roth’s words are also a rebuke to Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron, both of whom have qualified their criticisms of Chinese President Xi Jinping to the lowest possible level.
True, Roth isn’t the leader of his nation or an EU president. But he is a rising star on the German center-left, and his words offer an overdue jolt to the system. China has overplayed its hand, and Europe is finally waking up, albeit slowly.
