Bütikofer criticizes Merkel's China policy + Green Olympics • China.Table

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Dear reader,

Reinhard Bütikofer is one of the most seasoned China experts in German politics. In our interview, Felix Lee speaks with him about Merkel’s China policy and what a Green Chancellor would do differently. Bütikofer criticizes Germany’s unilateral moves, which tend to weaken Europe’s position against Beijing. He explains why Xi’s inauguration in 2013 represents a change for the worse, and why China has long since begun to decouple itself from the West. The Green MEP argues that Germany should not become fully dependent on China, and should instead cooperate with like-minded partners to counter Beijing’s hegemonic ambitions.

Yesterday, the Olympic Games in Tokyo came to an end. The upcoming Winter Games in Beijing have been a subject of debate in the past months: should there be a boycott due to human rights violations in Xinjiang? The organizers are trying to counter a boycott debate with a positive spin. They promise the very first “Green Winter Games”: Its sports venues are to be powered exclusively by eco-electricity, and transport is to be provided by electric and fuel cell cars and buses. Christiane Kühl analyses the concept of the “Green Games” and has found some questionable elements.

Have a pleasant week!

Your
Nico Beckert

Feature

‘Merkel’s China policy is peculiarly outdated’

Green Party politician Reinhard Bütikofer is affected by Chinese sanctions and criticizes the German government’s China policy. The “automotive foreign policy” is just as outdated as the idea that change can be achieved through patience. Germany must overcome the illusion of its own inabilities and accept the challenge set by new rivalry. Felix Lee spoke with Bütikofer.

Reinhard Bütikofer (68) has been active in the Society for German-Chinese Friendship since the 1970s. The former federal chairman of the Green Party has been a member of the EU Parliament since 2009. He helps shape European policy on China in Foreign Affairs and Trade Committees. He also chairs the Delegation for Relations with the People’s Republic of China and is a member of the German-Chinese Dialogue Forum. And from time to time, his involvement gets him into trouble: since March, he has been blacklisted and is banned from entering China. This punitive measure was part of Beijing’s response to European sanctions for human rights violations in the Xinjiang region. Bütikofer had supported the sanctions.

Mr Bütikofer, no other Western industrialized country has benefited as much from China’s rise as Germany. What is your assessment after 16 years of Angela Merkel as Chancellor?

These 16 years of China policy cannot be lumped together. Today it is hardly remembered, but at the beginning of her chancellorship, Angela Merkel dared to receive the Dalai Lama, although she knew that this would meet utmost disapproval in Beijing. Just a few years ago, a group of European China think tanks concluded in a study that Merkel was one of the few leaders in Europe who also talked publicly about human rights in China. She arranged for Liu Xiaobo, the widow of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xia, to be allowed to depart for Germany after years of house arrest. And yet today, Merkel’s China policy seems strangely outdated.

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