First off, we wish all readers in China a wonderful Golden Week and a few relaxing days!
Because of zero-Covid, the Chinese population is once again urged not to travel during this year’s vacation season. The pandemic still defines the everyday life of many people and companies. Bettina Schoen-Behanzin, the representative of the Freudenberg Group in Shanghai, can also tell a thing or two about this. Interviewed by Frank Sieren, Schoen-Behanzin expressed the hope that China will soon return to normality. She is certain that the economic environment will become tougher and that Europe’s companies will have to put in more effort.
The reporting of state-run Chinese media about German politics generally follows the official political agenda. But there are plenty of independent information sources on the social media platform WeChat that share news or everyday stories in Chinese from Germany, for example. Renxiu Zhao took a closer look at these channels and presents a small selection.
How deep are the marks of Shanghai’s hard lockdown on you?
That was a big shock for everyone here in Shanghai. No one thought this would happen in Shanghai. Many people are unsettled and ask themselves: Could this happen again? It cannot be ruled out. Many restaurants have closed here, many foreigners have packed their bags and left – for good.
Have you already packed your bags?
No, I won’t be leaving my beloved Shanghai so soon. But I have to say that these three years, especially the over two months of lockdown, have put this love to a tough test. All these uncertainties and restrictions, the constant testing – and the risk of getting stuck somewhere while traveling the country, but also the great problems of traveling internationally. So I do wonder: How far and how long am I still willing to put up with this?
But there is also another side: We should not forget that the years 2020 and 2021, when Germany had to endure a much longer lockdown because of the Delta variant, for example, were also very hard – while we had an almost completely normal life here, except for the fact that it was difficult to travel to Germany. You should really force yourself to look at developments with a balanced perspective.
How has this changed your perception of China?
I realized for the first time how at the mercy of others we actually are. Many other people feel the same way. I now hope that China will return to normality.
How did you end up in China?
That was 26 years ago now. I studied Sinology because it has always been my wish and goal to live and work in China. I only worked in Germany for two years. I started as a trainee with my first employer, Rittal. Then I spent two years in Singapore, and since 1996 I have lived here in China. And looking back, I have to say it was worth it. The things I was able to experience here professionally, to help build up and move, would not have been possible in Germany.
Why was this possible in China and not in Germany?
The high growth created enormous scope and you had a lot of freedom, even as a young foreigner because there were not many foreigners who spoke the language, knew China, or were interested in China. The doors were wide open for both foreigners and international companies. We were able to make a lot of difference.
How attractive are European employers still for the Chinese?
We are now perceived differently. We used to be the gateway to the world. Today, we are considered a bit slow, not particularly innovative – and as companies that offer not enough career opportunities: I don’t really learn anything with you anymore. I’m bored. I’d rather join a Chinese company and go out into the world with them. They are much more progressive, more open to innovation.
How strong is your company feeling the competition from Chinese companies?
It has gotten tougher, but in the end it is up to us to what extent we seize the opportunities that this market still holds. Nowadays, you have to look more closely, and find your niche in areas where there is political support from the government. For example, in renewable energies or EV battery technology. Or you have to specialize even more.
So we as a company have to work harder. But if you have local experience like Freudenberg, which has been operating in China since 1923 – so for almost a hundred years – then you manage.
Technology theft, unfair competitive advantages, human rights violations – is it not time for the German economy to decouple from China?
I think the strategy of no longer doing business in China is extremely naive. Just look at the German automotive industry. There are a number of players who would no longer exist without China – and their supplier industries would also be gone. China is a very, very important and also unique market for us. The dependencies that have arisen as a result are regrettable, but they can only be changed slowly and to a very limited extent.
I also notice this in my function as the President of the EU Chamber in Shanghai. The results of our surveys are clear: European companies are looking more critically at China, but they do not want to leave the country.
Nevertheless, there is much talk that China is in the midst of an economic crisis.
The crisis is here. The real estate sector is weakening, a key growth driver. Consumers are reluctant. That is not a good sign. Confidence in the government has been dented. When I talk to Chinese people, I sense one thing clearly: Resentment that the government is placing too much emphasis on security and ideology in its zero-Covid policy and is neglecting the needs of the economy in the process – is growing and is already greater than it has been for a long time. However, experience shows that so far they have always managed to turn the tide. And in this case, I am also not too pessimistic. But it will take longer this time.
So how do you see the Covid crisis compared to other economic crises you have experienced over the past few decades?
Unlike in the past, China is far more intertwined with the world. The way the Europeans and the Americans act plays a much bigger role. That’s why it’s so important, both for Europe on the one hand and for China on the other, to talk to each other and work together. Both sides need to open up more again. When it comes to difficult matters, including human rights issues, it makes no sense to slam the door shut, and certainly not loudly. We have to sit down together, stay in dialogue and find a consensus.
Where is China heading? What will happen in the next 10 or 20 years? What do we have to prepare for?
Roughly speaking, two directions are vying for supremacy. One is more concerned with control and ideological unity, the other with openness, international networking and more market economy. The Party Congress in October will show in which direction China is leaning more.
Will China decouple?
I think that is unrealistic. People here have been promised: You can increase your wealth and afford more and more. This includes travel around the world and Western products. If China were to decouple, prosperity would collapse; people would no longer be allowed to travel and would have to do without Western products. I don’t think the Chinese people would accept that.
Bettina Schoen-Behanzin can be described as the grande dame of German business in China. She has been living here for 26 years. From the regional headquarters in Shanghai, she now supports the Asian business of the Weinheim-based Freudenberg Group, a typical hidden champion. Founded in 1849, Freundeberg is still 100 percent family-owned. The company is very broadly positioned. Seals and vibration technology are just as much part of the portfolio as battery and fuel cell systems, medical technology, technical textiles, filters or specialty chemicals, but also home and cleaning solutions. The company has 50,000 employees worldwide and generates sales of more than €10 billion. This makes Freudenberg one of the 30 largest family-owned companies in Germany. In China, Freudenberg employs 7500 people at 28 production sites.
China’s state media are selective when it comes to news about Germany. Coverage of sensitive topics such as the refugee crisis or the energy transition often follows an agenda to justify official policy in China. Finding independent news sources is often not easy for Chinese due to language barriers and Internet blocks. Major German news portals such as Welt or Spiegel are blocked in the People’s Republic. WeChat channels that specialize on Germany offer a solution: “WeChat public accounts”. In China, they have now replaced conventional news as the first stop for obtaining the latest updates.
A public WeChat account is often a cross between a news portal and a blog page. Technically, anyone can set up such an account after receiving approval from the so-called WeChat Media and Content Team. Some of the largest channels that are dedicated to Germany include the “Chinesische Handelszeitung” 德欧华商, WegZuDe 留德圈 or “Deutschlandreport” 道德经. However, they are usually limited to neutral news with barely any room for discussion in the comments or follow the official government narrative.
But there are a handful of channels that take a personal approach or try to provide a nuanced look at German and Chinese coverage.
The channel was founded by a Chinese man who lives in Germany and speaks fluent German. Xinhua II – named after the Chinese state news agency – aims to show a “different Germany” to which readers, who do not speak the national language, would otherwise not have access. Most of the channel’s content is blog entries by the channel’s owner; there are also translations from German media. One of the columns is called “辟谣,” which roughly translates to “debunked”. The account compares news stories about Germany in Chinese media with local reporting.
A much commented article on Xinhua II was the written rebuttal from a Chinese blogger named “CaptainWuya”. After the Left Party, described as the “successor party to the former ruling party of East Germany,” narrowly returned to the German parliament in 2021, “CaptainWuya” concluded that “East Germans miss the Communist Party.” In his essay on WeChat, which has been viewed around 100,000 times, he explained that the East German people had not turned against the government before the fall of the Berlin Wall. He called it “brainwashing by the Western media”. Xinhua II’s “Debunked” column refuted the argument based on the election results for the Left Party, which had suffered a bitter defeat in 2021. In fact, the party only made it to parliament at all thanks to a few direct mandates. The channel also reported on historical events like the uprising of June 17, 1953, in East Germany.
In addition, Xinhua II occasionally picks apart official Chinese stories – which repeatedly earns the author negative comments. Overall, however, the users on Xinhua II appear more reflective than on comparable channels. Since the number of followers of public WeChat accounts is generally not displayed, the reach can only be estimated from the views of individual articles. Within a week of their publication, texts on Xinhua II are viewed about 10,000 times on average, which suggests a likely follower count of 150,000 and 200,000.
In stark contrast to the aforementioned channel, “Muma” offers a more intimate look at German-Chinese relations. The account, which is particularly popular with women, is run by a Chinese engineer nicknamed Muma, who is married to a German senior executive. The couple has a four-year-old son.
With humorous anecdotes from everyday life, the channel tries to introduce readers to German values. For example, it compares the parenting methods of both countries and sheds light on social developments. In June, Muma wrote an article titled “Why Germans Don’t Want to Get Married,” based on data from the Federal Statistical Office. “Many Germans don’t think ‘marriage’ is necessary,” she explains to her readers. In the comment section, this trend certainly finds approval. A female user from Ningxia explains that many Chinese men basically contribute nothing to the marriage, they do not help in the household and refuse to take care of the kids.
One of Muma’s most popular segments, which has an estimated 400,000 to 500,000 followers, is dedicated to her husband’s many hobbies. One day he trains wilderness survival techniques in a suburb of Munich, the next he uses YouTube videos to make a leather dagger holster. After the family moved from Germany to Nanjing this year, he started an e-bike club with other German men from the neighborhood. A reader jokingly comments, “Middle-aged men have constantly new hobbies because they have a tolerant, generous, and financially strong wife backing them. He really was lucky to marry Muma.”
However, there are other channels that report on current and political issues – with a quite critical tone.
One example is the channel “Leben in Deutschland” (Life in Germany), which is aimed at Chinese citizens living in Germany. The channel originated from the “Chinesischen Allgemeine Zeitung Deutschland” (Chinese General Newspaper Germany), which is sold in Asian supermarkets, for example. Every day, “Leben in Deutschland” publishes three articles that deal with current topics or provide practical tips for everyday life. The website claims that it aims to bring the people of the two countries closer together. But the tone of the articles on the WeChat account is polarizing and highly critical of German politics. The channel posts articles from the German media, sometimes embellishing them with a sarcastic undertone related to the German government and the energy crisis.
What is particularly notable about the account is the above-average activity in the comments section, with posts that predominantly criticize the government. A majority of the comments express discontent and irony toward the current governing parties, especially the Greens: For example, someone describes Germany’s Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock, as a “foreign minister who talks without thinking and whose policies consist only of slogans.” About one in ten comments tend to bash, while the vast majority are argumentatively critical.
The owner of the Channel, however, is unclear: There is no information on the publisher, whose name translates as Evolution Media Consulting (维进化媒体咨询有限公司), on the Internet. So it is impossible to say whether the abundance of negative comments is a coincidence or intended. But it is clear that the channel garners attention: Based on the number of article views, this account has an estimated 300,000 to 400,000 followers.
Aside from Germany-related posts, there are also discussions about China. For example, one user points out that higher energy costs in Germany are nothing compared to the price of a plane ticket back to China: “How come we don’t have mainstream media in China interviewing people affected by sky-high airfares – and getting to the bottom of the causes?” Renxiu Zhao. In collaboration with Fabian Peltsch
Sinolytics is a European research-based consultancy entirely focused on China. It advises European companies on their strategic orientation and concrete business activities in the People’s Republic.
Nadine Godehardt’s interest in China originated from a culinary experience. Except that it was not a romantic Shanghai restaurant that mesmerized her. It all started during an English language course in Newcastle, UK, where the breakfast served in the dormitory was met with rather reserved reactions from the students.
However, some of the Taiwanese participating in the course had wisely filled their suitcases with food from home. When she was offered some, Godehardt did not think twice. She ate heartily and immediately made friends: “In this small community, in which I was really something like the ‘odd person out,’ I had first come into contact with Chinese culture.”
Since 2013, the graduate sinologist and political scientist has worked at the SWP, the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, in Berlin. There, she researches and provides counsel on topics such as political orders, connectivity, and crisis management, mostly with a focus on China.
Godehardt dismisses the idea that Russia’s invasion in Ukraine and the increasingly tense situation in Taiwan could lead to a return to geopolitical blocs: The current events have merely brought the classic understanding of geopolitics back into European focus: territorial relations, clear distribution of power, hard power. But it is still the case that states become dependent on each other through transnational connectivity, and this, too, is of geopolitical relevance.
Godehardt believes it is unlikely that this situation can be brought under control by rigid bloc forming. Instead, it is important to keep the channels of communication open and to include countries that do not share our interests and views, she says. After all, “We are in a very fluctuating situation. International institutions still remain, but they can no longer provide the same assurances – and that’s going to continue for a while.”
At present, Godehardt focuses on how language as a medium structures political decision-making domains: “When terms like ‘systemic rivalry’ are suddenly present and also catch on with the German federal government – then you also have to ask: what exactly does that mean and what consequences follow from it?”
She recently explored such problems in China’s changing foreign policy code. She is currently working on a study that will illustrate how security interests have changed under the leadership of state and party leader Xi Jinping.
She believes that the German debate on China is generally in a good opening position, as she found in a study together with a co-author. But there is still room for improvement. “We hardly have a controversial debate,” Godehardt concludes. “China expertise in Germany, its diversity, needs to be more visible and given more attention.” Julius Schwarzwälder
And again and again, the sun rises: On this clear morning, getting out early and coming to Hong Kong Harbor was well worth it. Dozens of people gathered to look at the sunrise on the promenade outside the cultural center on the Kowloon side, snapping photos and selfies.
First off, we wish all readers in China a wonderful Golden Week and a few relaxing days!
Because of zero-Covid, the Chinese population is once again urged not to travel during this year’s vacation season. The pandemic still defines the everyday life of many people and companies. Bettina Schoen-Behanzin, the representative of the Freudenberg Group in Shanghai, can also tell a thing or two about this. Interviewed by Frank Sieren, Schoen-Behanzin expressed the hope that China will soon return to normality. She is certain that the economic environment will become tougher and that Europe’s companies will have to put in more effort.
The reporting of state-run Chinese media about German politics generally follows the official political agenda. But there are plenty of independent information sources on the social media platform WeChat that share news or everyday stories in Chinese from Germany, for example. Renxiu Zhao took a closer look at these channels and presents a small selection.
How deep are the marks of Shanghai’s hard lockdown on you?
That was a big shock for everyone here in Shanghai. No one thought this would happen in Shanghai. Many people are unsettled and ask themselves: Could this happen again? It cannot be ruled out. Many restaurants have closed here, many foreigners have packed their bags and left – for good.
Have you already packed your bags?
No, I won’t be leaving my beloved Shanghai so soon. But I have to say that these three years, especially the over two months of lockdown, have put this love to a tough test. All these uncertainties and restrictions, the constant testing – and the risk of getting stuck somewhere while traveling the country, but also the great problems of traveling internationally. So I do wonder: How far and how long am I still willing to put up with this?
But there is also another side: We should not forget that the years 2020 and 2021, when Germany had to endure a much longer lockdown because of the Delta variant, for example, were also very hard – while we had an almost completely normal life here, except for the fact that it was difficult to travel to Germany. You should really force yourself to look at developments with a balanced perspective.
How has this changed your perception of China?
I realized for the first time how at the mercy of others we actually are. Many other people feel the same way. I now hope that China will return to normality.
How did you end up in China?
That was 26 years ago now. I studied Sinology because it has always been my wish and goal to live and work in China. I only worked in Germany for two years. I started as a trainee with my first employer, Rittal. Then I spent two years in Singapore, and since 1996 I have lived here in China. And looking back, I have to say it was worth it. The things I was able to experience here professionally, to help build up and move, would not have been possible in Germany.
Why was this possible in China and not in Germany?
The high growth created enormous scope and you had a lot of freedom, even as a young foreigner because there were not many foreigners who spoke the language, knew China, or were interested in China. The doors were wide open for both foreigners and international companies. We were able to make a lot of difference.
How attractive are European employers still for the Chinese?
We are now perceived differently. We used to be the gateway to the world. Today, we are considered a bit slow, not particularly innovative – and as companies that offer not enough career opportunities: I don’t really learn anything with you anymore. I’m bored. I’d rather join a Chinese company and go out into the world with them. They are much more progressive, more open to innovation.
How strong is your company feeling the competition from Chinese companies?
It has gotten tougher, but in the end it is up to us to what extent we seize the opportunities that this market still holds. Nowadays, you have to look more closely, and find your niche in areas where there is political support from the government. For example, in renewable energies or EV battery technology. Or you have to specialize even more.
So we as a company have to work harder. But if you have local experience like Freudenberg, which has been operating in China since 1923 – so for almost a hundred years – then you manage.
Technology theft, unfair competitive advantages, human rights violations – is it not time for the German economy to decouple from China?
I think the strategy of no longer doing business in China is extremely naive. Just look at the German automotive industry. There are a number of players who would no longer exist without China – and their supplier industries would also be gone. China is a very, very important and also unique market for us. The dependencies that have arisen as a result are regrettable, but they can only be changed slowly and to a very limited extent.
I also notice this in my function as the President of the EU Chamber in Shanghai. The results of our surveys are clear: European companies are looking more critically at China, but they do not want to leave the country.
Nevertheless, there is much talk that China is in the midst of an economic crisis.
The crisis is here. The real estate sector is weakening, a key growth driver. Consumers are reluctant. That is not a good sign. Confidence in the government has been dented. When I talk to Chinese people, I sense one thing clearly: Resentment that the government is placing too much emphasis on security and ideology in its zero-Covid policy and is neglecting the needs of the economy in the process – is growing and is already greater than it has been for a long time. However, experience shows that so far they have always managed to turn the tide. And in this case, I am also not too pessimistic. But it will take longer this time.
So how do you see the Covid crisis compared to other economic crises you have experienced over the past few decades?
Unlike in the past, China is far more intertwined with the world. The way the Europeans and the Americans act plays a much bigger role. That’s why it’s so important, both for Europe on the one hand and for China on the other, to talk to each other and work together. Both sides need to open up more again. When it comes to difficult matters, including human rights issues, it makes no sense to slam the door shut, and certainly not loudly. We have to sit down together, stay in dialogue and find a consensus.
Where is China heading? What will happen in the next 10 or 20 years? What do we have to prepare for?
Roughly speaking, two directions are vying for supremacy. One is more concerned with control and ideological unity, the other with openness, international networking and more market economy. The Party Congress in October will show in which direction China is leaning more.
Will China decouple?
I think that is unrealistic. People here have been promised: You can increase your wealth and afford more and more. This includes travel around the world and Western products. If China were to decouple, prosperity would collapse; people would no longer be allowed to travel and would have to do without Western products. I don’t think the Chinese people would accept that.
Bettina Schoen-Behanzin can be described as the grande dame of German business in China. She has been living here for 26 years. From the regional headquarters in Shanghai, she now supports the Asian business of the Weinheim-based Freudenberg Group, a typical hidden champion. Founded in 1849, Freundeberg is still 100 percent family-owned. The company is very broadly positioned. Seals and vibration technology are just as much part of the portfolio as battery and fuel cell systems, medical technology, technical textiles, filters or specialty chemicals, but also home and cleaning solutions. The company has 50,000 employees worldwide and generates sales of more than €10 billion. This makes Freudenberg one of the 30 largest family-owned companies in Germany. In China, Freudenberg employs 7500 people at 28 production sites.
China’s state media are selective when it comes to news about Germany. Coverage of sensitive topics such as the refugee crisis or the energy transition often follows an agenda to justify official policy in China. Finding independent news sources is often not easy for Chinese due to language barriers and Internet blocks. Major German news portals such as Welt or Spiegel are blocked in the People’s Republic. WeChat channels that specialize on Germany offer a solution: “WeChat public accounts”. In China, they have now replaced conventional news as the first stop for obtaining the latest updates.
A public WeChat account is often a cross between a news portal and a blog page. Technically, anyone can set up such an account after receiving approval from the so-called WeChat Media and Content Team. Some of the largest channels that are dedicated to Germany include the “Chinesische Handelszeitung” 德欧华商, WegZuDe 留德圈 or “Deutschlandreport” 道德经. However, they are usually limited to neutral news with barely any room for discussion in the comments or follow the official government narrative.
But there are a handful of channels that take a personal approach or try to provide a nuanced look at German and Chinese coverage.
The channel was founded by a Chinese man who lives in Germany and speaks fluent German. Xinhua II – named after the Chinese state news agency – aims to show a “different Germany” to which readers, who do not speak the national language, would otherwise not have access. Most of the channel’s content is blog entries by the channel’s owner; there are also translations from German media. One of the columns is called “辟谣,” which roughly translates to “debunked”. The account compares news stories about Germany in Chinese media with local reporting.
A much commented article on Xinhua II was the written rebuttal from a Chinese blogger named “CaptainWuya”. After the Left Party, described as the “successor party to the former ruling party of East Germany,” narrowly returned to the German parliament in 2021, “CaptainWuya” concluded that “East Germans miss the Communist Party.” In his essay on WeChat, which has been viewed around 100,000 times, he explained that the East German people had not turned against the government before the fall of the Berlin Wall. He called it “brainwashing by the Western media”. Xinhua II’s “Debunked” column refuted the argument based on the election results for the Left Party, which had suffered a bitter defeat in 2021. In fact, the party only made it to parliament at all thanks to a few direct mandates. The channel also reported on historical events like the uprising of June 17, 1953, in East Germany.
In addition, Xinhua II occasionally picks apart official Chinese stories – which repeatedly earns the author negative comments. Overall, however, the users on Xinhua II appear more reflective than on comparable channels. Since the number of followers of public WeChat accounts is generally not displayed, the reach can only be estimated from the views of individual articles. Within a week of their publication, texts on Xinhua II are viewed about 10,000 times on average, which suggests a likely follower count of 150,000 and 200,000.
In stark contrast to the aforementioned channel, “Muma” offers a more intimate look at German-Chinese relations. The account, which is particularly popular with women, is run by a Chinese engineer nicknamed Muma, who is married to a German senior executive. The couple has a four-year-old son.
With humorous anecdotes from everyday life, the channel tries to introduce readers to German values. For example, it compares the parenting methods of both countries and sheds light on social developments. In June, Muma wrote an article titled “Why Germans Don’t Want to Get Married,” based on data from the Federal Statistical Office. “Many Germans don’t think ‘marriage’ is necessary,” she explains to her readers. In the comment section, this trend certainly finds approval. A female user from Ningxia explains that many Chinese men basically contribute nothing to the marriage, they do not help in the household and refuse to take care of the kids.
One of Muma’s most popular segments, which has an estimated 400,000 to 500,000 followers, is dedicated to her husband’s many hobbies. One day he trains wilderness survival techniques in a suburb of Munich, the next he uses YouTube videos to make a leather dagger holster. After the family moved from Germany to Nanjing this year, he started an e-bike club with other German men from the neighborhood. A reader jokingly comments, “Middle-aged men have constantly new hobbies because they have a tolerant, generous, and financially strong wife backing them. He really was lucky to marry Muma.”
However, there are other channels that report on current and political issues – with a quite critical tone.
One example is the channel “Leben in Deutschland” (Life in Germany), which is aimed at Chinese citizens living in Germany. The channel originated from the “Chinesischen Allgemeine Zeitung Deutschland” (Chinese General Newspaper Germany), which is sold in Asian supermarkets, for example. Every day, “Leben in Deutschland” publishes three articles that deal with current topics or provide practical tips for everyday life. The website claims that it aims to bring the people of the two countries closer together. But the tone of the articles on the WeChat account is polarizing and highly critical of German politics. The channel posts articles from the German media, sometimes embellishing them with a sarcastic undertone related to the German government and the energy crisis.
What is particularly notable about the account is the above-average activity in the comments section, with posts that predominantly criticize the government. A majority of the comments express discontent and irony toward the current governing parties, especially the Greens: For example, someone describes Germany’s Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock, as a “foreign minister who talks without thinking and whose policies consist only of slogans.” About one in ten comments tend to bash, while the vast majority are argumentatively critical.
The owner of the Channel, however, is unclear: There is no information on the publisher, whose name translates as Evolution Media Consulting (维进化媒体咨询有限公司), on the Internet. So it is impossible to say whether the abundance of negative comments is a coincidence or intended. But it is clear that the channel garners attention: Based on the number of article views, this account has an estimated 300,000 to 400,000 followers.
Aside from Germany-related posts, there are also discussions about China. For example, one user points out that higher energy costs in Germany are nothing compared to the price of a plane ticket back to China: “How come we don’t have mainstream media in China interviewing people affected by sky-high airfares – and getting to the bottom of the causes?” Renxiu Zhao. In collaboration with Fabian Peltsch
Sinolytics is a European research-based consultancy entirely focused on China. It advises European companies on their strategic orientation and concrete business activities in the People’s Republic.
Nadine Godehardt’s interest in China originated from a culinary experience. Except that it was not a romantic Shanghai restaurant that mesmerized her. It all started during an English language course in Newcastle, UK, where the breakfast served in the dormitory was met with rather reserved reactions from the students.
However, some of the Taiwanese participating in the course had wisely filled their suitcases with food from home. When she was offered some, Godehardt did not think twice. She ate heartily and immediately made friends: “In this small community, in which I was really something like the ‘odd person out,’ I had first come into contact with Chinese culture.”
Since 2013, the graduate sinologist and political scientist has worked at the SWP, the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, in Berlin. There, she researches and provides counsel on topics such as political orders, connectivity, and crisis management, mostly with a focus on China.
Godehardt dismisses the idea that Russia’s invasion in Ukraine and the increasingly tense situation in Taiwan could lead to a return to geopolitical blocs: The current events have merely brought the classic understanding of geopolitics back into European focus: territorial relations, clear distribution of power, hard power. But it is still the case that states become dependent on each other through transnational connectivity, and this, too, is of geopolitical relevance.
Godehardt believes it is unlikely that this situation can be brought under control by rigid bloc forming. Instead, it is important to keep the channels of communication open and to include countries that do not share our interests and views, she says. After all, “We are in a very fluctuating situation. International institutions still remain, but they can no longer provide the same assurances – and that’s going to continue for a while.”
At present, Godehardt focuses on how language as a medium structures political decision-making domains: “When terms like ‘systemic rivalry’ are suddenly present and also catch on with the German federal government – then you also have to ask: what exactly does that mean and what consequences follow from it?”
She recently explored such problems in China’s changing foreign policy code. She is currently working on a study that will illustrate how security interests have changed under the leadership of state and party leader Xi Jinping.
She believes that the German debate on China is generally in a good opening position, as she found in a study together with a co-author. But there is still room for improvement. “We hardly have a controversial debate,” Godehardt concludes. “China expertise in Germany, its diversity, needs to be more visible and given more attention.” Julius Schwarzwälder
And again and again, the sun rises: On this clear morning, getting out early and coming to Hong Kong Harbor was well worth it. Dozens of people gathered to look at the sunrise on the promenade outside the cultural center on the Kowloon side, snapping photos and selfies.
