Green hydrogen is an important pillar of the energy transition. It is produced using so-called electrolyzers, more than half of which come from China. Unsurprisingly, as is so often the case, Chinese technology is offered at lower prices.
Therefore, the EU Commission now plans to restrict the use of Chinese electrolyzers in Europe. “It is assessed that there is a significant risk of increased and irreversible dependency of the EU on imports of electrolyzers originating in China, which may threaten the EU’s security of supply,” Brussels explains the decision. The European hydrogen industry welcomed the move, as the new conditions create a better environment for companies wishing to invest in Europe, writes Manuel Berkel in his analysis.
Cheap fashion and lots of other bargains: The e-commerce giants Shein and Temu are giving the European industry a hard time. The new competitors benefit from considerable cost advantages and a lack of regulation. According to Daniel Enke, Director of Public Affairs & Corporate Citizenship at competitor Zalando, this has to change.
He argues that the companies are trade policy tools and part of a Chinese plan for export-oriented e-commerce – in economic terms, the topic is just as relevant as electric cars and solar cells. Find out what Enke demands from German Finance Minister Christian Lindner in Amelie Richter’s interview.
How do you perceive the current situation?
We naturally see the competitive advantages that some Asian players enjoy in Europe. These advantages have a noticeable commercial impact. If competitors can rely on significant cost advantages that are not just based on innovative business models, but also on a lack of legal enforcement, then that is a thorn in our side. We are not just talking about the business practices of these companies. It’s more about how the regulatory framework is structured and enforced here in Europe.
What damage do you think competition from Temu and Shein could inflict on European retailers?
Many companies are coming under severe pressure. We see this from a general market perspective: The longer the advantages exist, the more these companies, which are not based in the European Union and mainly come from the Far East, are able to gain a strong position on the market thanks to these advantages. Especially if the state continues to offer advantages to these companies or fails to close regulatory gaps. These cost advantages are not in the per mille range, but in the high double-digit percentage range. These advantages arise through subsidies, in China for example, through the utilization of duty-free allowances and through presumably lower or no VAT payments. The longer it takes for players to be able to operate on this basis, the more problematic this will be in Europe in general, as well as for individual brands, individual companies, and us.
Do you think these Chinese companies should be excluded from the market?
We do not want to resort to protectionism, and we do not want to put non-EU companies in a worse position. If anything, we want to avoid that companies based here are being disadvantaged. The two large companies in these direct-to-consumer models that we see here in Europe, Temu and Shein, are not purely private-sector companies as we know them. They are companies that are instruments of Chinese trade policy. They are important players in the implementation of a Chinese plan for export-oriented e-commerce. We are talking about a massive economic issue that is just as important as solar cells, electric cars and many other areas.
How should this be handled?
We are firmly in favor of abolishing the 150 euro duty-free limit. Not only to generate public revenue. But also to send out a signal that these external business practices will no longer work in the long term or that we should at least expect them to become more expensive. We very much welcomed the customs reform proposal presented by the European Commission last year. Unfortunately, however, some Member States, especially Germany, are still very hesitant or even idle.
Who exactly is idle?
We expect Finance Minister Lindner to commit to the abolition, preferably before 2028, and thus also send a signal in the European discourse. Many players are still hesitant and wait for a signal from Germany. We hear this from Brussels and the EU representatives of the other states.
In theory, the abolition sounds effective. However, critics believe it would create bureaucratic chaos.
It will be a challenge for customs officials and the customs system. However, it is also an economic challenge that is bigger than customs. We would like to see this kind of prioritization from the Ministry of Finance. We believe that abolishing the duty-free limit is currently the biggest legislative tool. It won’t solve everything at once and these business models will certainly continue to exist, but it will offset some of these competitive advantages. That would be quite a change for direct-to-consumer business models. The way we see it: The door is completely open right now. If we abolish this exemption limit, we will close it a bit.
Shouldn’t European providers also ask themselves if the way Temu or Shein offer their products is better for customers?
The Chinese type of e-commerce cannot be fully replicated in Europe in the form it exists in China. This is also due to the proximity to the manufacturing locations, which professionalize production in smaller cycles and in smaller quantities. It is a general trend that many companies are already working on shortening the cycles, even for large brands to produce in a more targeted manner. The reason why companies are successful in many areas is simply the product prices. These include the aforementioned advantages. Many of their marketing practices, such as countdowns or lucky wheels discounts, are simply not legal.
So, is there nothing where you would say that the Europeans failed to act? On the political side and also among businesses?
I think every company has to decide for itself to what extent it competes with these players and to what extent these companies are actually gaining market share in relevant categories. For us, this is only visible to a minimal extent, if at all. We are strategically well-positioned. But the problem is growing. It has already taken a very long time before anyone in politics has realized how these business models function and deduced how European regulations may need to be adapted – and we are still in the process.
Daniel Enke is Director of Public Affairs & Corporate Citizenship at Zalando in Berlin. He previously worked for 365 Sherpas and the German Retail Association, among others.
The EU Commission plans to restrict the use of Chinese technology for the production of green hydrogen for European demand. On Friday, the Brussels authority published the conditions for the second auction of the European Hydrogen Bank. The conditions also include new resilience criteria for electrolyzers. According to the publication, participating projects would have to limit the proportion of electrolysis stacks from China to a maximum of 25 percent to ensure a diversified supply chain.
The Commission justifies the restrictions by stating that more than half of the global electrolyzer manufacturing capacity is already located in China: “It is assessed that there is a significant risk of increased and irreversible dependency of the EU on imports of electrolyzers originating in China, which may threaten the EU’s security of supply.” The European hydrogen industry welcomed the move. “The new terms set out for the second call of the Hydrogen Bank create a fertile environment for companies to invest in Europe,” commented Hydrogen Europe CEO Jorgo Chatzimarkakis.
The EU provides 1.2 billion euros from the Innovation Fund for the second auction budget. The sum will be used to pay a fixed subsidy for up to ten years for every kilogram of hydrogen or its derivatives produced in the European Economic Area (EEA). The subsidy amount will be determined in an auction from 3 December until February 2025.
The EU already created a legal basis for resilience criteria in public procurement procedures with the Net-Zero Industry Act (NZIA). Earlier this month, Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra lamented an oversupply of Chinese electrolyzers “at ever lower prices” entering the market: “The next auction will be different. We will have explicit criteria to build European electrolyzer supply chains.”
During the first auction, 20 out of 130 bids involved Chinese electrolyzers. According to Reuters, it will be decided by November how many of the seven awarded projects will be built with Chinese equipment. The winners must then submit the relevant contract documents to the European climate agency CINEA.
The new diversification criterion is designed in such a way that it gives European manufacturers leeway when installing cheaper Chinese technology. It does not cover the entire plant and only defines a quota for its centerpiece – the stacks – and individual stages of the value chain: “The sourcing of electrolyzer stacks which include surface treatment, cell unit production and stack assembly from China.” This strategy could pave the way for other net-zero goods, such as batteries, which also face the trade-off between affordability on the one side and industrial and safety policy on the other.
However, the Commission also introduces a resilience criterion for digital components in the second hydrogen auction. In the future, participants will have to submit a cybersecurity plan “outlining how, in order to ensure the security of the installation, the operational control of the installation remains within an entity established in the EEA and the data are stored within the EEA” Failure to do so will result in the Commission not only refusing to grant subsidies, but also imposing a fine of eight percent of the subsidy amount.
François Paquet praised the announcement, saying that the Commission decided to act proactively rather than reactively this time. The Managing Director of the Renewable Hydrogen Coalition mainly represents renewable energy companies. The EU has probably irretrievably lost the solar industry to China, while Chinese producers have also gained a strong foothold in the wind industry.
The hydrogen bank’s cybersecurity criterion could be exemplary for the wind industry. As the turbines must be regularly monitored, controlled and maintained remotely to fulfill operational safety and warranty requirements, it would represent a significant hurdle for Chinese companies.
However, the Renewable Hydrogen Coalition complains that even the strictest resilience criteria are of little help if demand for renewable hydrogen fails to materialize. “Now the funding gap for renewable hydrogen remains the biggest obstacle,” said Paquet, who also called on the member states to create lead markets for green industrial goods such as steel, chemicals, and fertilizers. Several companies have shelved electrolysis projects that have not been funded by the hydrogen bank in recent months, citing increased costs and a lack of demand.
China’s new ambassador to the EU has taken up his new post in Brussels. The Chinese Mission announced that Cai Run arrived in the Belgian capital on Friday. Cai succeeds Fu Cong, who took over as China’s representative to the United Nations in the spring. Cai had been ambassador to Israel since 2021.
Cai already had a longer stint in Europe: He was China’s envoy to Portugal between 2015 and 2020. Before that, he held various positions in the Chinese Foreign Ministry. Between 2005 and 2008, he worked as a minister counselor at the embassy in the USA. ari
Shigeru Ishiba has won the election for leader of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and is expected to become Japan’s new prime minister. The country’s former defense minister takes over the post at a time of rising inflation, a weak yen and tense regional security.
The 67-year-old won at the fifth attempt and also referred during his campaign to shifts in the global security environment that require urgent action. In this context, relations with China will play a pivotal role in his political future. Ishiba is considered a China hawk. However, he also needs to keep an eye on the economic ties between the two countries – not least for the prosperity of Japanese society.
As a strong advocate of an “Asian NATO,” Ishiba aims to build a strong security alliance in the region. This initiative could meet with resistance from Xi Jinping’s government. However, analysts do not yet see a very positive response to Ishiba’s initiative, be it in the region itself or among Japan’s allies in Washington. In a guest commentary on his foreign policy views at the US think tank Hudson last week, Ishiba was direct: “Ukraine today is Asia tomorrow. Replacing Russia with China and Ukraine with Taiwan, the absence of a collective self-defense system like NATO in Asia means that wars are likely to break out because there is no obligation for mutual defense. Under these circumstances, the creation of an Asian version of NATO is essential to deter China by its Western allies.”
Shigeru Ishiba grew up in a politically active family. By his own account, he took an interest in politics at an early age, which led him to Waseda University, where he studied politics and economics. After graduation, he began his career in Japanese politics, initially as an advisor to the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
Ishiba is originally from the city of Tottori in western Japan and became a member of the Japanese parliament in 1986. He has held key cabinet posts, including Director of the then Defense Agency – now the Ministry of Defense – and Minister of Agriculture. Amid growing public opposition to the LDP, he left the party in 1993, but returned four years later. This move cost him the trust of many of his LDP colleagues, some of whom still regard him as a traitor.
Ishiba is married and has two daughters. He is considered an avid reader and has a particular fondness for literature and history – and he is considered an otaku – the Japanese equivalent of a nerd, he loves model airplanes and trains. And he can allegedly talk for hours about the benefits of instant ramen noodles. Just in time for his election success, an old video of him from 2018 has surfaced. It shows Ishiba making a memorable appearance at the opening of the Kurayoshi Figurine Museum in his hometown. For the celebration, he slipped into the costume of Majin Boo, a character from the anime series Dragon Ball, which is not only popular in Japan. At first glance, the character of Majin Boo appears innocent and clumsy – but when it comes down to it, he can absorb the power of his opponents and use it against them.
Shigeru Ishiba also embodies hidden strength in real life. He currently sees an opportunity to advance the LDP’s long-held goal of amending the constitution to explicitly strengthen Japan’s Self-Defense Forces. This would end the debate about the constitutionality of the Japanese Armed Forces. Under Article 9, Japan cannot maintain “combat-ready” armed forces to provide military support to allies. The military is to be used solely for self-defense.
During the LDP’s election campaign, tensions between Japan and China grew after a ten-year-old Japanese boy was attacked on the street in Shenzhen in mid-September and died from his injuries. China also continues to violate Japanese territory around the Senkaku Islands. In May this year, Beijing’s top diplomat in Tokyo, Wu Jianghao, hinted that Japan would be “dragged into the fire” if it supported Taiwan’s independence.
Bilateral tensions increased even further last week when Japan sent a warship through the Taiwan Strait. The maneuver is also seen as a reaction to Chinese warships, which had recently come alarmingly close to Japanese territory. Japanese security expert Ryosuke Hanada expects Japan to strengthen its alliance with the US and partnerships with like-minded nations to deter China’s maritime expansion.
Shigeru Ishiba is widely seen as a strong advocate of preserving the status quo through security cooperation with Taiwan. He has visited Taiwan on several occasions and presented the idea of a coalition of democracies during his last visit. He emphasized the necessity of deterrence for peace in the region, without directly criticizing Beijing.
After all, the economic ties between Japan and China are significant. In 2022, China was Japan’s largest trading partner, with a bilateral trade volume of more than 360 billion US dollars. Japan exported goods worth around 156 billion US dollars to China, while imports from China amounted to around 204 billion US dollars.
In reaction to his victory, the Chinese Foreign Ministry responded reservedly and called for the long-term, healthy development of Sino-Japanese relations. Ministry spokesman Lin Jian urged Japan to promote an objective understanding of China and pursue a positive policy. However, this is where the problem lies: Beijing and Tokyo have very different “objective” assessments of the risks and opportunities of Sino-Japanese relations. Amelie Richter, Fabian Peltsch
On October 1, the People’s Republic will celebrate the 75th anniversary of its founding. On Sunday, Xi Jinping awarded 15 highest national honors in the Great Hall of the People to distinguished figures of national history. Among them was Huang Zongde, who was brought into the hall in a wheelchair and in uniform alongside the President. Born in 1931, the son of a farmer, he joined the People’s Liberation Army at the age of 17. The state media particularly praises his dedication against “US aggression” in the Korean War. The foreign guest of honor at the ceremony was former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, who received the Friendship Medal and delivered a speech.
Green hydrogen is an important pillar of the energy transition. It is produced using so-called electrolyzers, more than half of which come from China. Unsurprisingly, as is so often the case, Chinese technology is offered at lower prices.
Therefore, the EU Commission now plans to restrict the use of Chinese electrolyzers in Europe. “It is assessed that there is a significant risk of increased and irreversible dependency of the EU on imports of electrolyzers originating in China, which may threaten the EU’s security of supply,” Brussels explains the decision. The European hydrogen industry welcomed the move, as the new conditions create a better environment for companies wishing to invest in Europe, writes Manuel Berkel in his analysis.
Cheap fashion and lots of other bargains: The e-commerce giants Shein and Temu are giving the European industry a hard time. The new competitors benefit from considerable cost advantages and a lack of regulation. According to Daniel Enke, Director of Public Affairs & Corporate Citizenship at competitor Zalando, this has to change.
He argues that the companies are trade policy tools and part of a Chinese plan for export-oriented e-commerce – in economic terms, the topic is just as relevant as electric cars and solar cells. Find out what Enke demands from German Finance Minister Christian Lindner in Amelie Richter’s interview.
How do you perceive the current situation?
We naturally see the competitive advantages that some Asian players enjoy in Europe. These advantages have a noticeable commercial impact. If competitors can rely on significant cost advantages that are not just based on innovative business models, but also on a lack of legal enforcement, then that is a thorn in our side. We are not just talking about the business practices of these companies. It’s more about how the regulatory framework is structured and enforced here in Europe.
What damage do you think competition from Temu and Shein could inflict on European retailers?
Many companies are coming under severe pressure. We see this from a general market perspective: The longer the advantages exist, the more these companies, which are not based in the European Union and mainly come from the Far East, are able to gain a strong position on the market thanks to these advantages. Especially if the state continues to offer advantages to these companies or fails to close regulatory gaps. These cost advantages are not in the per mille range, but in the high double-digit percentage range. These advantages arise through subsidies, in China for example, through the utilization of duty-free allowances and through presumably lower or no VAT payments. The longer it takes for players to be able to operate on this basis, the more problematic this will be in Europe in general, as well as for individual brands, individual companies, and us.
Do you think these Chinese companies should be excluded from the market?
We do not want to resort to protectionism, and we do not want to put non-EU companies in a worse position. If anything, we want to avoid that companies based here are being disadvantaged. The two large companies in these direct-to-consumer models that we see here in Europe, Temu and Shein, are not purely private-sector companies as we know them. They are companies that are instruments of Chinese trade policy. They are important players in the implementation of a Chinese plan for export-oriented e-commerce. We are talking about a massive economic issue that is just as important as solar cells, electric cars and many other areas.
How should this be handled?
We are firmly in favor of abolishing the 150 euro duty-free limit. Not only to generate public revenue. But also to send out a signal that these external business practices will no longer work in the long term or that we should at least expect them to become more expensive. We very much welcomed the customs reform proposal presented by the European Commission last year. Unfortunately, however, some Member States, especially Germany, are still very hesitant or even idle.
Who exactly is idle?
We expect Finance Minister Lindner to commit to the abolition, preferably before 2028, and thus also send a signal in the European discourse. Many players are still hesitant and wait for a signal from Germany. We hear this from Brussels and the EU representatives of the other states.
In theory, the abolition sounds effective. However, critics believe it would create bureaucratic chaos.
It will be a challenge for customs officials and the customs system. However, it is also an economic challenge that is bigger than customs. We would like to see this kind of prioritization from the Ministry of Finance. We believe that abolishing the duty-free limit is currently the biggest legislative tool. It won’t solve everything at once and these business models will certainly continue to exist, but it will offset some of these competitive advantages. That would be quite a change for direct-to-consumer business models. The way we see it: The door is completely open right now. If we abolish this exemption limit, we will close it a bit.
Shouldn’t European providers also ask themselves if the way Temu or Shein offer their products is better for customers?
The Chinese type of e-commerce cannot be fully replicated in Europe in the form it exists in China. This is also due to the proximity to the manufacturing locations, which professionalize production in smaller cycles and in smaller quantities. It is a general trend that many companies are already working on shortening the cycles, even for large brands to produce in a more targeted manner. The reason why companies are successful in many areas is simply the product prices. These include the aforementioned advantages. Many of their marketing practices, such as countdowns or lucky wheels discounts, are simply not legal.
So, is there nothing where you would say that the Europeans failed to act? On the political side and also among businesses?
I think every company has to decide for itself to what extent it competes with these players and to what extent these companies are actually gaining market share in relevant categories. For us, this is only visible to a minimal extent, if at all. We are strategically well-positioned. But the problem is growing. It has already taken a very long time before anyone in politics has realized how these business models function and deduced how European regulations may need to be adapted – and we are still in the process.
Daniel Enke is Director of Public Affairs & Corporate Citizenship at Zalando in Berlin. He previously worked for 365 Sherpas and the German Retail Association, among others.
The EU Commission plans to restrict the use of Chinese technology for the production of green hydrogen for European demand. On Friday, the Brussels authority published the conditions for the second auction of the European Hydrogen Bank. The conditions also include new resilience criteria for electrolyzers. According to the publication, participating projects would have to limit the proportion of electrolysis stacks from China to a maximum of 25 percent to ensure a diversified supply chain.
The Commission justifies the restrictions by stating that more than half of the global electrolyzer manufacturing capacity is already located in China: “It is assessed that there is a significant risk of increased and irreversible dependency of the EU on imports of electrolyzers originating in China, which may threaten the EU’s security of supply.” The European hydrogen industry welcomed the move. “The new terms set out for the second call of the Hydrogen Bank create a fertile environment for companies to invest in Europe,” commented Hydrogen Europe CEO Jorgo Chatzimarkakis.
The EU provides 1.2 billion euros from the Innovation Fund for the second auction budget. The sum will be used to pay a fixed subsidy for up to ten years for every kilogram of hydrogen or its derivatives produced in the European Economic Area (EEA). The subsidy amount will be determined in an auction from 3 December until February 2025.
The EU already created a legal basis for resilience criteria in public procurement procedures with the Net-Zero Industry Act (NZIA). Earlier this month, Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra lamented an oversupply of Chinese electrolyzers “at ever lower prices” entering the market: “The next auction will be different. We will have explicit criteria to build European electrolyzer supply chains.”
During the first auction, 20 out of 130 bids involved Chinese electrolyzers. According to Reuters, it will be decided by November how many of the seven awarded projects will be built with Chinese equipment. The winners must then submit the relevant contract documents to the European climate agency CINEA.
The new diversification criterion is designed in such a way that it gives European manufacturers leeway when installing cheaper Chinese technology. It does not cover the entire plant and only defines a quota for its centerpiece – the stacks – and individual stages of the value chain: “The sourcing of electrolyzer stacks which include surface treatment, cell unit production and stack assembly from China.” This strategy could pave the way for other net-zero goods, such as batteries, which also face the trade-off between affordability on the one side and industrial and safety policy on the other.
However, the Commission also introduces a resilience criterion for digital components in the second hydrogen auction. In the future, participants will have to submit a cybersecurity plan “outlining how, in order to ensure the security of the installation, the operational control of the installation remains within an entity established in the EEA and the data are stored within the EEA” Failure to do so will result in the Commission not only refusing to grant subsidies, but also imposing a fine of eight percent of the subsidy amount.
François Paquet praised the announcement, saying that the Commission decided to act proactively rather than reactively this time. The Managing Director of the Renewable Hydrogen Coalition mainly represents renewable energy companies. The EU has probably irretrievably lost the solar industry to China, while Chinese producers have also gained a strong foothold in the wind industry.
The hydrogen bank’s cybersecurity criterion could be exemplary for the wind industry. As the turbines must be regularly monitored, controlled and maintained remotely to fulfill operational safety and warranty requirements, it would represent a significant hurdle for Chinese companies.
However, the Renewable Hydrogen Coalition complains that even the strictest resilience criteria are of little help if demand for renewable hydrogen fails to materialize. “Now the funding gap for renewable hydrogen remains the biggest obstacle,” said Paquet, who also called on the member states to create lead markets for green industrial goods such as steel, chemicals, and fertilizers. Several companies have shelved electrolysis projects that have not been funded by the hydrogen bank in recent months, citing increased costs and a lack of demand.
China’s new ambassador to the EU has taken up his new post in Brussels. The Chinese Mission announced that Cai Run arrived in the Belgian capital on Friday. Cai succeeds Fu Cong, who took over as China’s representative to the United Nations in the spring. Cai had been ambassador to Israel since 2021.
Cai already had a longer stint in Europe: He was China’s envoy to Portugal between 2015 and 2020. Before that, he held various positions in the Chinese Foreign Ministry. Between 2005 and 2008, he worked as a minister counselor at the embassy in the USA. ari
Shigeru Ishiba has won the election for leader of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and is expected to become Japan’s new prime minister. The country’s former defense minister takes over the post at a time of rising inflation, a weak yen and tense regional security.
The 67-year-old won at the fifth attempt and also referred during his campaign to shifts in the global security environment that require urgent action. In this context, relations with China will play a pivotal role in his political future. Ishiba is considered a China hawk. However, he also needs to keep an eye on the economic ties between the two countries – not least for the prosperity of Japanese society.
As a strong advocate of an “Asian NATO,” Ishiba aims to build a strong security alliance in the region. This initiative could meet with resistance from Xi Jinping’s government. However, analysts do not yet see a very positive response to Ishiba’s initiative, be it in the region itself or among Japan’s allies in Washington. In a guest commentary on his foreign policy views at the US think tank Hudson last week, Ishiba was direct: “Ukraine today is Asia tomorrow. Replacing Russia with China and Ukraine with Taiwan, the absence of a collective self-defense system like NATO in Asia means that wars are likely to break out because there is no obligation for mutual defense. Under these circumstances, the creation of an Asian version of NATO is essential to deter China by its Western allies.”
Shigeru Ishiba grew up in a politically active family. By his own account, he took an interest in politics at an early age, which led him to Waseda University, where he studied politics and economics. After graduation, he began his career in Japanese politics, initially as an advisor to the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
Ishiba is originally from the city of Tottori in western Japan and became a member of the Japanese parliament in 1986. He has held key cabinet posts, including Director of the then Defense Agency – now the Ministry of Defense – and Minister of Agriculture. Amid growing public opposition to the LDP, he left the party in 1993, but returned four years later. This move cost him the trust of many of his LDP colleagues, some of whom still regard him as a traitor.
Ishiba is married and has two daughters. He is considered an avid reader and has a particular fondness for literature and history – and he is considered an otaku – the Japanese equivalent of a nerd, he loves model airplanes and trains. And he can allegedly talk for hours about the benefits of instant ramen noodles. Just in time for his election success, an old video of him from 2018 has surfaced. It shows Ishiba making a memorable appearance at the opening of the Kurayoshi Figurine Museum in his hometown. For the celebration, he slipped into the costume of Majin Boo, a character from the anime series Dragon Ball, which is not only popular in Japan. At first glance, the character of Majin Boo appears innocent and clumsy – but when it comes down to it, he can absorb the power of his opponents and use it against them.
Shigeru Ishiba also embodies hidden strength in real life. He currently sees an opportunity to advance the LDP’s long-held goal of amending the constitution to explicitly strengthen Japan’s Self-Defense Forces. This would end the debate about the constitutionality of the Japanese Armed Forces. Under Article 9, Japan cannot maintain “combat-ready” armed forces to provide military support to allies. The military is to be used solely for self-defense.
During the LDP’s election campaign, tensions between Japan and China grew after a ten-year-old Japanese boy was attacked on the street in Shenzhen in mid-September and died from his injuries. China also continues to violate Japanese territory around the Senkaku Islands. In May this year, Beijing’s top diplomat in Tokyo, Wu Jianghao, hinted that Japan would be “dragged into the fire” if it supported Taiwan’s independence.
Bilateral tensions increased even further last week when Japan sent a warship through the Taiwan Strait. The maneuver is also seen as a reaction to Chinese warships, which had recently come alarmingly close to Japanese territory. Japanese security expert Ryosuke Hanada expects Japan to strengthen its alliance with the US and partnerships with like-minded nations to deter China’s maritime expansion.
Shigeru Ishiba is widely seen as a strong advocate of preserving the status quo through security cooperation with Taiwan. He has visited Taiwan on several occasions and presented the idea of a coalition of democracies during his last visit. He emphasized the necessity of deterrence for peace in the region, without directly criticizing Beijing.
After all, the economic ties between Japan and China are significant. In 2022, China was Japan’s largest trading partner, with a bilateral trade volume of more than 360 billion US dollars. Japan exported goods worth around 156 billion US dollars to China, while imports from China amounted to around 204 billion US dollars.
In reaction to his victory, the Chinese Foreign Ministry responded reservedly and called for the long-term, healthy development of Sino-Japanese relations. Ministry spokesman Lin Jian urged Japan to promote an objective understanding of China and pursue a positive policy. However, this is where the problem lies: Beijing and Tokyo have very different “objective” assessments of the risks and opportunities of Sino-Japanese relations. Amelie Richter, Fabian Peltsch
On October 1, the People’s Republic will celebrate the 75th anniversary of its founding. On Sunday, Xi Jinping awarded 15 highest national honors in the Great Hall of the People to distinguished figures of national history. Among them was Huang Zongde, who was brought into the hall in a wheelchair and in uniform alongside the President. Born in 1931, the son of a farmer, he joined the People’s Liberation Army at the age of 17. The state media particularly praises his dedication against “US aggression” in the Korean War. The foreign guest of honor at the ceremony was former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, who received the Friendship Medal and delivered a speech.
