- NATO: China a ‘systemic challenge’
- Taishan nuclear power plant: radioactive leak or normal operation?
- Green skyscrapers
- Airbus warns of competition
- Beijing accuses G7 of ‘interference’
- Bundestag election program of the Greens
- Heads: Philipp Boeing – ZEW researcher on subsidies for innovation
It must have been a major challenge for NATO to get all 30 members on the same page vis-à-vis China. Although the final declaration suggests unity, and China is even described as a “systemic challenge”, behind the scenes, a wide variety of interests clashed, reports Amelie Richter. NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg speaks of a pivotal moment and states: The rise of the People’s Republic is the greatest security challenge of our time. His bottom line: China is moving closer to us. Whether that’s good or bad is in the eye of the beholder.
The US government’s view of China is clear even under US President Joe Biden. On Monday, reports circulated in the American media that the Taishan nuclear power plant was about to be shut down because of safety problems. China reacted indignantly, saying everything was fine. Finn Mayer-Kuckuk is very familiar with the nuclear reactor. In 2010 he researched on-site: The two pressurized water reactors in Taishan, built with French help, are of the EPR type and are the only units of this type in the world that so far supply electricity. Our Feature shows: The truth lies between the US warning of a radioactive leak and the Chinese replica of normal operation.
Frank Sieren has something amazing to report: China’s skyscrapers are among the most sustainable in the world. They even receive prestigious awards from America for their environmentally friendly innovations. But until now, the builders have mostly been state-owned. Beijing now wants to change that with new regulations. A look at the current construction figures shows how important that would be: No other country in the world is building more new skyscrapers than China.
Michael Radunski
Feature
Nato: China a ‘systemic challenge’
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg made very clear how important the summit meeting of the North Atlantic defensive alliance was: NATO was at a “pivotal moment” and was beginning a “new chapter,” the Norwegian stressed several times throughout the day in Brussels on Monday. Not only because, with US President Joe Biden, the Transatlantic Alliance is once again experiencing a more responsive and committed Washington after four Trump years – but also because of Nato’s new orientation towards China. And it went from 0 to 100 because the People’s Republic was mentioned for the first time a good 18 months ago in a statement by the alliance. Now, China is mentioned in ten places in the communiqué adopted by the NATO heads of state and government. In the final declaration, China is classified as a “systemic challenge” for the first time.
The alliance of 30 states will, in the future, “engage China with a view to defending the security interest of the alliance,” the final paper states. The growing influence of the People’s Republic and its international policy could pose challenges that must be tackled jointly as an alliance. On one point, NATO is more explicit than the G7 countries were last weekend: China is pursuing a coercive policy contrary to the fundamental values of the North Atlantic Treaty.
Merkel speaks out in favor of dialogue format
The declaration calls on Beijing to“comply with its international obligations” and to live up to its “role as a great power” – including at sea, in cyberspace, and in outer space. In addition, China should create transparency with regard to its nuclear capabilities and take confidence-building measures: China is expanding its nuclear arsenal with more warheads and a greater number of sophisticated delivery systems but remains “opaque,” the final declaration continues. Stoltenberg stressed after the summit that there was also concern about the use of calculated disinformation by the People’s Republic.
Continue reading now
… and get free access to this Professional Briefing for a month.
Are you already a guest at the China.Table? Log in now