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The German Press and Information Office in Berlin’s transcription of a telephone conversation between the Chancellor and China’s President Xi Jinping on Wednesday was worth a mere ten lines. It spoke of “international efforts in the production and distribution of vaccines” and of “issues of economic cooperation, efforts to protect the climate and preserve biodiversity”. The German Chancellor wants to hold a “dialogue” with Xi at the upcoming Sino-German intergovernmental consultations, work “in-depth” on bilateral issues and discuss the “entire range of relations”, including issues where “differences of opinion exist”.
Differences of opinion? Beijing is facing serious accusations of violating human rights in its treatment of the Uyghur minority. In Hong Kong, democrats are in jail while the Parliament is being politically equalized. And for just over a week, European parliamentarians and academics have been hampered in their work by Beijing’s sanctions.
Of course, there are trade-offs to be made when Europe, when the German government looks to China. Its own economic interests in a globalized world and not least climate policy issues are evident. But what assertiveness outwardly and credibility inwardly does a chancellor still have who, at the low point of European-Chinese relations, informs us about a telephone conversation with Xi on “biodiversity” – but does not mention Europe with a single word?
Angela Merkel has no intention of revising her principles on dealing with Beijing’s autocracy in the last hundred meters of her chancellorship. Shortly before Christmas, the Chancellor of “Change through Trade” emphasized her desire in Brussels and Beijing to conclude the Sino-European Investment Agreement under the German Council Presidency. And according to the Chinese state media, Xi Jinping made it abundantly clear to her on the phone yesterday that he does not consider Europe’s sanctions against his loyal followers to be an appropriate form of thanks just a few weeks later.
What remains of this day is a point gained for Xi and a German slap in the face for Brussels. In the Chancellor’s Office, the suitcases are packed.
Antje Sirleschtov
Feature
Data security according to the EU Model
The National People’s Congress already introduced the draft for the new Data Security Law (DSL) in July 2020. In contrast to the Cyber Security Law (CSL), which has been in force since 2017, the Data Security Law is intended to provide the framework for the regulation of all activities involving data in China, not only digital data but also analog paper-based offline data.
The principles adopted by the European GDPR include consent, the exercise of data subject rights, but also technical and organizational requirements for data security. The main focus here is on the relationship between customers and companies. In contrast to the EU, Beijing reserves far-reaching data processing powers for the purposes of state security, the maintenance of public order, or the “common good”.
Foreign companies also fall under this regime if they work with data in China, even if they are not based in China.
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