- Nancy Pelosi wants to go to Taiwan
- China does not benefit from lower inflation rates
- Mercedes relies on desire for luxury of Chinese customers
- USA wants to isolate Chinese chipmakers
- Impressive documentary about lockdown in Shanghai
- Heads: Sascha Pallenberg lives ‘at the navel of the IT world’
During the production of today’s Professional Briefing, the editorial team kept a keen eye on Taiwan. The big question of whether Nancy Pelosi will actually pay a visit to the US ally and the possible implications of that visit is probably at the back of the mind of every China observer these days. And opinions differ on whether Pelosi’s visit would demonstrate an important American strength toward the People’s Republic or recklessly jeopardize peace.
Those who are very familiar with China say that the country respects a strong attitude, but mercilessly exploits the weaknesses of its adversaries. Nancy Pelosi has probably heard this too. As the highest-ranking politician in the United States after the president and vice president, it is now up to her to decide whether to take the latest military threats from the Chinese Foreign Ministry seriously.
If Pelosi now changes her mind and refrains from visiting Taiwan, she would have needlessly shot the US’ bolt. It is hard to believe that she was not aware of this when she made her travel plans public. By implication, this would mean that she is willing to ignore Chinese threats. To be continued soon.
Until then, we take an in-depth look at why China’s low inflation compared to Europe or the United States is not a systemic advantage for Beijing. Another analysis looks at China’s importance for carmaker Mercedes. More luxury for customers between Jilin and Shenzhen form one pillar of the company’s future strategy.
Marcel Grzanna
Feature
Pelosi’s play with fire
Nancy Pelosi will travel to Taiwan after all. This was first reported on Monday by the American television station CNN, citing high-ranking Taiwanese government officials and a US official. However, it remains unclear when exactly the speaker of the US House of Representatives will land in Taipei. The New York Times quotes officials from the US government around President Joe Biden as saying that Pelosi could still change her mind about a trip to Taiwan, but that this is now very unlikely.
Meanwhile, Taiwanese media are more specific: According to their reports, the high-ranking US politician will already arrive in Taipei on Tuesday and spend the night in the capital. Taiwan’s Prime Minister Su Tseng-chang was still evasive on Monday when asked about a possible Pelosi visit. “We always warmly welcome visits to our country by distinguished foreign guests,” he said in Taipei. And Pelosi herself has still not officially confirmed the visit.
But officials at the US Department of Defense are currently working at full speed on a plan to ensure the politician’s safety during the trip. For this purpose, all Chinese movements in the region will be closely monitored.
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