The cautionary words of German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier sounded hollow. Yesterday evening, Steinmeier warned that Germany’s economy was too dependent, especially on China. Yet the next morning, against all opposition from his coalition partners, his party comrade, Chancellor Olaf Scholz, pushed through the stake of the Chinese state-owned company Cosco in one of Hamburg’s port terminals. And this right in the middle of a major political turmoil in which handing over important infrastructure to state-owned Chinese players seems unwise, writes Finn Mayer-Kuckuk in his analysis of the highly controversial deal.
At least Hong Kong emancipated itself from China – at least as far as the Chinese Covid policies are concerned. While entry into the People’s Republic still requires a mandatory quarantine of at least seven days, this is no longer the case in the southern Chinese special administrative region. There, the realization finally set in that in the age of effective vaccines and milder Omicron variants, strict lockdowns are no longer needed.
And yet the different regulations remain a problem for Hong Kong. Especially in the tourism industry and the retail sector, the mood remains sour. Because as long as Beijing does not open up, Hong Kong’s economy will hardly recover – the dependence on the People’s Republic remains too great.
Another lesson, Chancellor Scholz?
When a ministry issues a “partial prohibition” at the same time as a permit, this is the communicative equivalent of loudly grinding teeth. At the request of the German chancellor, the house of Economy Minister Robert Habeck had to permit the entry of the Chinese shipping company Cosco into a terminal of the Port of Hamburg. However, it accompanies the process with the most negative tone possible.
From a regulatory perspective, Habeck alone could not prevent the sale of the shares. The transaction did not require the approval of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action. Because shares below 25 percent are not subject to investment review. However, the ministry did the next best thing and on Wednesday explicitly prohibited Cosco from acquiring shares of more than 25 percent in the Tollerort terminal. By approving this bill, the federal cabinet implicitly allowed the 24.9 percent acquisition – the same as if it had not voted on it at all. Thus, the government agreed on and implemented the very compromise first reported by China.Table on Monday.
The original plan was to acquire a 35 percent stake. In comparison, the lower share of 24.9 percent “prevents a strategic participation and reduces the acquisition to a purely financial participation,” writes Habeck’s ministry. The reason for the partial prohibition is “the presence of a threat to public order and safety.
Wednesday’s administrative act resolves a months-long dispute over Cosco’s involvement in the port terminal. Hamburg port logistics company HHLA had agreed to the deal with its major client Cosco last year. However, the implementation of the plan coincided with a political storm in which handing over more infrastructure to state-owned Chinese players seemed increasingly unwise.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February then caused the mood to tip entirely against the acquisition. The realization that the operation of German gas storage facilities was in Russian hands served as a rude awakening. By reducing the stake below 25 percent, Scholz, a supporter of the investment, admittedly saved the deal. Nevertheless, the Greens and the liberal FDP opposed it until the very end (China.Table reported).
From Habeck’s point of view, the partial prohibition has a number of advantages. It allows limiting China’s influence in Hamburg in the long term. By forbidding stakes above 25 percent, the share cannot be simply increased at a later date. “If, for example, the acquirer Cosco wishes to acquire further shares at a later date, any acquisition transaction that exceeds the 25 percent threshold triggers a new investment review,” the ministry stated.
It brings a whole slew of other restrictions:
Like in the past days, the decision was met with harsh criticism from the governing coalition, the political opposition and the public. Chinese investments are currently not very popular with the general population (China.Table reported). Hamburg’s former mayor Scholz had to invest a lot of political capital to secure the city’s China deal. Accordingly, Scholz defended his involvement on Wednesday, saying that it was only a small share in a single port terminal.
The chancellor’s office also denied any connection between the controversial Cosco decision and Olaf Scholz’s equally controversial trip to China next week. “The cabinet decision has no connection whatsoever with the China trip,” stressed Deputy Government Spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann.
The German Foreign Office led by Annalena Baerbock, on the other hand, expressed deep disappointment. The sale of the terminal shares would “disproportionately expand China’s strategic influence on the German and European transport infrastructure and Germany’s dependence on China,” Baerbock told her cabinet colleagues. The ministries of finance, justice, transport and education, which are staffed by the liberal FDP party, also rejected the deal. In a cabinet meeting, all ministers vote on such proposals.
According to Reuters, Baerbock’s Secretary of State for Europe, Anna Luehrmann, gave detailed justification for the rejection at the cabinet meeting. She stated that the objections had not only economic, but also geopolitical reasons. Cosco’s involvement would jeopardize the success of the European Trans-European Transport Network project. This is an EU plan to connect and unify roads, railways, air routes and waterways across borders. Luehrmann stressed to the cabinet the “considerable risks” for Germany’s interests if transport infrastructure was controlled by China.
However, not only politicians, who may benefit by distancing themselves from the China deal, opposed the move. Sinologists, for whom such a statement could massively harm their relations with China, also took a stand against it. Hamburg professor Kai Vogelsang published an open letter on the German website Zeit.de on Wednesday. Together with a large group of German China experts, he urged the chancellor not to sell the port’s shares. “It would play into the hands of a regime that has oppressed its people ever more ruthlessly in recent years, and it carries a political risk for Hamburg and Germany that far outweighs the desired economic advantage.”
Germany would make itself part of the Maritime Silk Road and thus of the trade system devised by Beijing, which primarily serves Chinese interests. Vogelsang also stresses that political considerations, not economic ones, should take precedence in this case. He also drew a connection to the war of aggression against Ukraine, which China supports, threats against Taiwan, and serious human rights violations.
Vogelsang compared the privileges of business with the demands currently placed on science. “The planned deal would not only be a slap in the face for many Western partner countries; it would also make a mockery of the efforts of German business and science to become less dependent on China.” Universities are currently forced to end their collaborations with Chinese partners, he said. “To nevertheless allow massive Chinese investment in the Port of Hamburg in this situation would significantly damage the credibility of German politics.”
The 53-year-old Vogelsang is a highly respected name in sinology. He is best known for his books on Chinese history, but also has a background in economics. The open letter had been signed by 54 other sinologists at the time of its publication.
However, support for the port deal also came from the business community in particular. Martin Brudermueller, head of chemical giant BASF, warned Wednesday against taking an overly critical view of China. “I think it is imperative that we get away from China-bashing and take a somewhat self-critical look at ourselves.” There are deficits and risks not only with regard to China, he said.
BASF firmly expects further growth in China and is currently investing heavily there (China.Table reported). “We are not worried about long-term development,” said Brudermueller, who will join the delegation of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on his visit to China in early November.
As expected, the port logistics company HHLA also welcomed the cabinet’s decision. Closer integration with its major customer had been its wish from the outset. It now plans to soon talk with Cosco about the actual contract for the share sale, it said. Angela Titzrath, Chairwoman of HHLA’s Executive Board, said in Hamburg. “We welcome the fact that a solution has been found in factual, constructive talks with the German government.” However, she could not yet say whether Cosco would even accept the numerous restrictions imposed by the Ministry of Economics.
The fact that normality still has not fully returned to Hong Kong is already evident at Frankfurt Airport. Boarding for the Lufthansa flight begins unusually early, almost two hours before departure. The airline plans the extra time because each passenger must present the Covid documents required for entry to Hong Kong one more time.
A green QR code is required, which proves that passengers have filled out the Hong Kong authorities’ health declaration in advance, as well as a Covid rapid test or self-test 24 hours before departure. Proof of vaccination is also required. “Yesterday we had a gentleman who was missing documentation. He could not board the plane,” said a staff member at the airport.
Even after landing in Hong Kong, there are still significant differences compared to the pre-pandemic state. Even before going through passport control, everyone must get in line for a PCR test. However, the airport organized this well. The whole procedure takes no more than 20 minutes. And, finally, after the baggage claim, there are no more obstacles and the airport express can be taken to the city center.
This procedure represents a vast improvement over the troubles travelers had to endure in the past. They were bussed from the airport directly to hotel quarantine. At the most severe times, they had to stay in their rooms for 21 days, later the quarantine period was reduced. The last quarantine period was three days, until the government ended mandatory quarantine entirely in late September.
Now Hong Kong is once again open to the world. Well, not quite yet. Travelers may no longer have to go into quarantine, but they will only receive a yellow code in the Covid app for the first three days. This means that they can move relatively freely around the city and even go to the supermarket. However, restaurant visits are forbidden.
Restaurants usually check the codes thoroughly, because they face severe penalties if they neglect to do so. “During an inspection at our restaurant, a guest was found with the wrong code. Now we can’t let anyone into the restaurant for 14 days,” reports the owner of a pizzeria, who was waiting outside his empty restaurant for customers to order takeaway meals. The constant testing is also exhausting for new arrivals. During the first week after arrival, they need to take three PCR tests in addition to a daily rapid test.
German travelers who have never experienced Hong Kong’s drastic Covid rules in the last three years may still find the city’s restrictions very harsh. For example, a mask must be worn upon leaving home. Masks are still mandatory both on the street and in most indoor areas.
And yet the signs point to relaxation. Hong Kong Covid regulations emancipated themselves from Mainland China, where a minimum seven-day quarantine is still required upon entry and every business trip within the country becomes Russian roulette, because you never know when the next lockdown will hit.
For the people of Hong Kong who want to visit their family in China or have to travel there on business, this is still a problem. Only 1,500 travelers per day are currently allowed to cross the border into Shenzhen and must then go into quarantine. Attempts by the Hong Kong government to increase the quota or simplify travel so far failed due to opposition from Mainland authorities.
The Mainland’s strict policy poses a dilemma for Hong Kong. Chief Executive John Lee argues that the chances of opening up to China are better if the current restrictions in Hong Kong remain in effect for the time being. However, large parts of the city’s businesses and the tourism industry begin to lose patience. They hope for a full international opening.
They no longer want to wait, instead, they want to finally get rid of the last restrictions, such as the yellow health code upon arrival. If this does not happen, the business camp warns, Hong Kong will lose its status as an international hub for good and will be overtaken by Singapore, for example. After all, Singapore has long since managed without strict Covid measures. Joern Petring
When Kerstin Han stepped into a Buddhist temple in Xi’an five years ago and told one of the monks there that she wanted to become a Buddhist and a permanent member, the monk’s eyes widened and he turned pale. The only way he had ever known foreigners was when they came to the temple, took pictures, maybe joined a ceremony, and then left. But Kerstin Han wanted to stay, she was serious.
She dropped everything in her native Germany and decided to live in China. “At that time, I could definitely imagine growing old here.” Even as a teenager, Han was interested in Buddhist philosophy and China. She read everything she could get her hands on on the subject and began studying Chinese. She gladly would have chosen university courses with a direct link to Buddhism. But she wanted to stay in the Munich area and the choice there was limited. Instead, she chose biology. “I asked myself what Buddha did,” Kerstin Han says. “He gained his wisdom through close observation of nature and his surroundings.”
Following her studies, she trained as a specialist journalist and took further training as a teacher at the Goethe Language Learning Center. “I accumulated all this knowledge during my studies, and I wanted to pass that on,” she says. She worked as a freelance writer for various magazines, published botanical drawings and volunteered to teach German to Chinese. During this period, she traveled to China several times with her then-Chinese husband to visit his family. “But there had always been a desire to really live there.”
When she packed her bags in 2017, the destination had long been set: Xi’an was where the monk Xuanzang had lived around 600 AD, after which he spent many years traveling India and brought important Buddhist scriptures back to China. They were translated in the Xi’an temple, which is still preserved there today. Kerstin Han was the first foreigner to be accepted into this temple, and until recently she lived and worked in the city. She taught German at the Goethe Language Learning Center there, spent many hours in different temples around the city, writing, translating and leading workshops on Buddhist philosophy. In mid-October, she moved to a Buddhist monastery in Los Angeles.
“Since March, there’s been a new law in China regarding religion,” she says. “Since then, sharing content about religions online has been limited, and only people who have a specific license are allowed to teach or speak publicly about religion.” Many monks, Kerstin included, don’t have such a license. “There were hardly any lectures anymore. The whole climate changed.” When she arrived in Xi’an five years ago, religious life was much more vibrant.
“The official explanation is that a “Chinese-style religion” is being sought. But I would imagine the government is trying to stop the potential of group formation.” In China’s history, for example, there had been riots fed by a religious movement before in the form of the White Lotus Rebellion.
Kerstin Han reluctantly left China, but she is also looking forward to teaching about Buddhism again in Los Angeles. “I also want to continue and expand my thesis project in America.” Two years ago, she began a distance learning program in Buddhist Studies at the University of South Wales. For her thesis, she developed a self-help program based on Buddhist philosophies for people with obsessive-compulsive disorder.
“I believe Buddhist knowledge can help people who are stuck in a negative perception,” Kerstin says. In Los Angeles, she hopes to expand this self-help program, including for people with depression. Svenja Napp
For once, not a military installation on an island in the South China Sea, like the ones China recently built several times, but – surprise, surprise – a vacation resort. Wuzhizhou is the name of the idyll off the coast of Sanya in Hainan. Chinese media already compare it to the Maldives, which Chinese tourists have been unable to visit for almost three years because of the pandemic. However, the area is not entirely without a military presence. Right on the neighboring island, there it is again: a complex of the People’s Liberation Army.
The cautionary words of German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier sounded hollow. Yesterday evening, Steinmeier warned that Germany’s economy was too dependent, especially on China. Yet the next morning, against all opposition from his coalition partners, his party comrade, Chancellor Olaf Scholz, pushed through the stake of the Chinese state-owned company Cosco in one of Hamburg’s port terminals. And this right in the middle of a major political turmoil in which handing over important infrastructure to state-owned Chinese players seems unwise, writes Finn Mayer-Kuckuk in his analysis of the highly controversial deal.
At least Hong Kong emancipated itself from China – at least as far as the Chinese Covid policies are concerned. While entry into the People’s Republic still requires a mandatory quarantine of at least seven days, this is no longer the case in the southern Chinese special administrative region. There, the realization finally set in that in the age of effective vaccines and milder Omicron variants, strict lockdowns are no longer needed.
And yet the different regulations remain a problem for Hong Kong. Especially in the tourism industry and the retail sector, the mood remains sour. Because as long as Beijing does not open up, Hong Kong’s economy will hardly recover – the dependence on the People’s Republic remains too great.
Another lesson, Chancellor Scholz?
When a ministry issues a “partial prohibition” at the same time as a permit, this is the communicative equivalent of loudly grinding teeth. At the request of the German chancellor, the house of Economy Minister Robert Habeck had to permit the entry of the Chinese shipping company Cosco into a terminal of the Port of Hamburg. However, it accompanies the process with the most negative tone possible.
From a regulatory perspective, Habeck alone could not prevent the sale of the shares. The transaction did not require the approval of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action. Because shares below 25 percent are not subject to investment review. However, the ministry did the next best thing and on Wednesday explicitly prohibited Cosco from acquiring shares of more than 25 percent in the Tollerort terminal. By approving this bill, the federal cabinet implicitly allowed the 24.9 percent acquisition – the same as if it had not voted on it at all. Thus, the government agreed on and implemented the very compromise first reported by China.Table on Monday.
The original plan was to acquire a 35 percent stake. In comparison, the lower share of 24.9 percent “prevents a strategic participation and reduces the acquisition to a purely financial participation,” writes Habeck’s ministry. The reason for the partial prohibition is “the presence of a threat to public order and safety.
Wednesday’s administrative act resolves a months-long dispute over Cosco’s involvement in the port terminal. Hamburg port logistics company HHLA had agreed to the deal with its major client Cosco last year. However, the implementation of the plan coincided with a political storm in which handing over more infrastructure to state-owned Chinese players seemed increasingly unwise.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February then caused the mood to tip entirely against the acquisition. The realization that the operation of German gas storage facilities was in Russian hands served as a rude awakening. By reducing the stake below 25 percent, Scholz, a supporter of the investment, admittedly saved the deal. Nevertheless, the Greens and the liberal FDP opposed it until the very end (China.Table reported).
From Habeck’s point of view, the partial prohibition has a number of advantages. It allows limiting China’s influence in Hamburg in the long term. By forbidding stakes above 25 percent, the share cannot be simply increased at a later date. “If, for example, the acquirer Cosco wishes to acquire further shares at a later date, any acquisition transaction that exceeds the 25 percent threshold triggers a new investment review,” the ministry stated.
It brings a whole slew of other restrictions:
Like in the past days, the decision was met with harsh criticism from the governing coalition, the political opposition and the public. Chinese investments are currently not very popular with the general population (China.Table reported). Hamburg’s former mayor Scholz had to invest a lot of political capital to secure the city’s China deal. Accordingly, Scholz defended his involvement on Wednesday, saying that it was only a small share in a single port terminal.
The chancellor’s office also denied any connection between the controversial Cosco decision and Olaf Scholz’s equally controversial trip to China next week. “The cabinet decision has no connection whatsoever with the China trip,” stressed Deputy Government Spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann.
The German Foreign Office led by Annalena Baerbock, on the other hand, expressed deep disappointment. The sale of the terminal shares would “disproportionately expand China’s strategic influence on the German and European transport infrastructure and Germany’s dependence on China,” Baerbock told her cabinet colleagues. The ministries of finance, justice, transport and education, which are staffed by the liberal FDP party, also rejected the deal. In a cabinet meeting, all ministers vote on such proposals.
According to Reuters, Baerbock’s Secretary of State for Europe, Anna Luehrmann, gave detailed justification for the rejection at the cabinet meeting. She stated that the objections had not only economic, but also geopolitical reasons. Cosco’s involvement would jeopardize the success of the European Trans-European Transport Network project. This is an EU plan to connect and unify roads, railways, air routes and waterways across borders. Luehrmann stressed to the cabinet the “considerable risks” for Germany’s interests if transport infrastructure was controlled by China.
However, not only politicians, who may benefit by distancing themselves from the China deal, opposed the move. Sinologists, for whom such a statement could massively harm their relations with China, also took a stand against it. Hamburg professor Kai Vogelsang published an open letter on the German website Zeit.de on Wednesday. Together with a large group of German China experts, he urged the chancellor not to sell the port’s shares. “It would play into the hands of a regime that has oppressed its people ever more ruthlessly in recent years, and it carries a political risk for Hamburg and Germany that far outweighs the desired economic advantage.”
Germany would make itself part of the Maritime Silk Road and thus of the trade system devised by Beijing, which primarily serves Chinese interests. Vogelsang also stresses that political considerations, not economic ones, should take precedence in this case. He also drew a connection to the war of aggression against Ukraine, which China supports, threats against Taiwan, and serious human rights violations.
Vogelsang compared the privileges of business with the demands currently placed on science. “The planned deal would not only be a slap in the face for many Western partner countries; it would also make a mockery of the efforts of German business and science to become less dependent on China.” Universities are currently forced to end their collaborations with Chinese partners, he said. “To nevertheless allow massive Chinese investment in the Port of Hamburg in this situation would significantly damage the credibility of German politics.”
The 53-year-old Vogelsang is a highly respected name in sinology. He is best known for his books on Chinese history, but also has a background in economics. The open letter had been signed by 54 other sinologists at the time of its publication.
However, support for the port deal also came from the business community in particular. Martin Brudermueller, head of chemical giant BASF, warned Wednesday against taking an overly critical view of China. “I think it is imperative that we get away from China-bashing and take a somewhat self-critical look at ourselves.” There are deficits and risks not only with regard to China, he said.
BASF firmly expects further growth in China and is currently investing heavily there (China.Table reported). “We are not worried about long-term development,” said Brudermueller, who will join the delegation of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on his visit to China in early November.
As expected, the port logistics company HHLA also welcomed the cabinet’s decision. Closer integration with its major customer had been its wish from the outset. It now plans to soon talk with Cosco about the actual contract for the share sale, it said. Angela Titzrath, Chairwoman of HHLA’s Executive Board, said in Hamburg. “We welcome the fact that a solution has been found in factual, constructive talks with the German government.” However, she could not yet say whether Cosco would even accept the numerous restrictions imposed by the Ministry of Economics.
The fact that normality still has not fully returned to Hong Kong is already evident at Frankfurt Airport. Boarding for the Lufthansa flight begins unusually early, almost two hours before departure. The airline plans the extra time because each passenger must present the Covid documents required for entry to Hong Kong one more time.
A green QR code is required, which proves that passengers have filled out the Hong Kong authorities’ health declaration in advance, as well as a Covid rapid test or self-test 24 hours before departure. Proof of vaccination is also required. “Yesterday we had a gentleman who was missing documentation. He could not board the plane,” said a staff member at the airport.
Even after landing in Hong Kong, there are still significant differences compared to the pre-pandemic state. Even before going through passport control, everyone must get in line for a PCR test. However, the airport organized this well. The whole procedure takes no more than 20 minutes. And, finally, after the baggage claim, there are no more obstacles and the airport express can be taken to the city center.
This procedure represents a vast improvement over the troubles travelers had to endure in the past. They were bussed from the airport directly to hotel quarantine. At the most severe times, they had to stay in their rooms for 21 days, later the quarantine period was reduced. The last quarantine period was three days, until the government ended mandatory quarantine entirely in late September.
Now Hong Kong is once again open to the world. Well, not quite yet. Travelers may no longer have to go into quarantine, but they will only receive a yellow code in the Covid app for the first three days. This means that they can move relatively freely around the city and even go to the supermarket. However, restaurant visits are forbidden.
Restaurants usually check the codes thoroughly, because they face severe penalties if they neglect to do so. “During an inspection at our restaurant, a guest was found with the wrong code. Now we can’t let anyone into the restaurant for 14 days,” reports the owner of a pizzeria, who was waiting outside his empty restaurant for customers to order takeaway meals. The constant testing is also exhausting for new arrivals. During the first week after arrival, they need to take three PCR tests in addition to a daily rapid test.
German travelers who have never experienced Hong Kong’s drastic Covid rules in the last three years may still find the city’s restrictions very harsh. For example, a mask must be worn upon leaving home. Masks are still mandatory both on the street and in most indoor areas.
And yet the signs point to relaxation. Hong Kong Covid regulations emancipated themselves from Mainland China, where a minimum seven-day quarantine is still required upon entry and every business trip within the country becomes Russian roulette, because you never know when the next lockdown will hit.
For the people of Hong Kong who want to visit their family in China or have to travel there on business, this is still a problem. Only 1,500 travelers per day are currently allowed to cross the border into Shenzhen and must then go into quarantine. Attempts by the Hong Kong government to increase the quota or simplify travel so far failed due to opposition from Mainland authorities.
The Mainland’s strict policy poses a dilemma for Hong Kong. Chief Executive John Lee argues that the chances of opening up to China are better if the current restrictions in Hong Kong remain in effect for the time being. However, large parts of the city’s businesses and the tourism industry begin to lose patience. They hope for a full international opening.
They no longer want to wait, instead, they want to finally get rid of the last restrictions, such as the yellow health code upon arrival. If this does not happen, the business camp warns, Hong Kong will lose its status as an international hub for good and will be overtaken by Singapore, for example. After all, Singapore has long since managed without strict Covid measures. Joern Petring
When Kerstin Han stepped into a Buddhist temple in Xi’an five years ago and told one of the monks there that she wanted to become a Buddhist and a permanent member, the monk’s eyes widened and he turned pale. The only way he had ever known foreigners was when they came to the temple, took pictures, maybe joined a ceremony, and then left. But Kerstin Han wanted to stay, she was serious.
She dropped everything in her native Germany and decided to live in China. “At that time, I could definitely imagine growing old here.” Even as a teenager, Han was interested in Buddhist philosophy and China. She read everything she could get her hands on on the subject and began studying Chinese. She gladly would have chosen university courses with a direct link to Buddhism. But she wanted to stay in the Munich area and the choice there was limited. Instead, she chose biology. “I asked myself what Buddha did,” Kerstin Han says. “He gained his wisdom through close observation of nature and his surroundings.”
Following her studies, she trained as a specialist journalist and took further training as a teacher at the Goethe Language Learning Center. “I accumulated all this knowledge during my studies, and I wanted to pass that on,” she says. She worked as a freelance writer for various magazines, published botanical drawings and volunteered to teach German to Chinese. During this period, she traveled to China several times with her then-Chinese husband to visit his family. “But there had always been a desire to really live there.”
When she packed her bags in 2017, the destination had long been set: Xi’an was where the monk Xuanzang had lived around 600 AD, after which he spent many years traveling India and brought important Buddhist scriptures back to China. They were translated in the Xi’an temple, which is still preserved there today. Kerstin Han was the first foreigner to be accepted into this temple, and until recently she lived and worked in the city. She taught German at the Goethe Language Learning Center there, spent many hours in different temples around the city, writing, translating and leading workshops on Buddhist philosophy. In mid-October, she moved to a Buddhist monastery in Los Angeles.
“Since March, there’s been a new law in China regarding religion,” she says. “Since then, sharing content about religions online has been limited, and only people who have a specific license are allowed to teach or speak publicly about religion.” Many monks, Kerstin included, don’t have such a license. “There were hardly any lectures anymore. The whole climate changed.” When she arrived in Xi’an five years ago, religious life was much more vibrant.
“The official explanation is that a “Chinese-style religion” is being sought. But I would imagine the government is trying to stop the potential of group formation.” In China’s history, for example, there had been riots fed by a religious movement before in the form of the White Lotus Rebellion.
Kerstin Han reluctantly left China, but she is also looking forward to teaching about Buddhism again in Los Angeles. “I also want to continue and expand my thesis project in America.” Two years ago, she began a distance learning program in Buddhist Studies at the University of South Wales. For her thesis, she developed a self-help program based on Buddhist philosophies for people with obsessive-compulsive disorder.
“I believe Buddhist knowledge can help people who are stuck in a negative perception,” Kerstin says. In Los Angeles, she hopes to expand this self-help program, including for people with depression. Svenja Napp
For once, not a military installation on an island in the South China Sea, like the ones China recently built several times, but – surprise, surprise – a vacation resort. Wuzhizhou is the name of the idyll off the coast of Sanya in Hainan. Chinese media already compare it to the Maldives, which Chinese tourists have been unable to visit for almost three years because of the pandemic. However, the area is not entirely without a military presence. Right on the neighboring island, there it is again: a complex of the People’s Liberation Army.
