I think the cordialities have simple roots:<p>Germany won't engage militarily anyway and we will continue to trade, too. The only threat to the relations can only come from the CCP restricting trade.<p>Germany simply doesn't have a navy, overseas territories in the Pacific, nuclear submarine deals with Australia, a space force, a war-deciding satellite-internet company, or an air force that could fly further than Switzerland.<p>On the economic side, Maybachs and Porsches sold to Chinese customers pay for our standard for living. We won't bite the hand that feeds us.
On really crucial industries, we don't have anything, especially not in China: Social networks with billions of users, AI, computer chips, raw materials, PV cells - nothing. We couldn't cut them off from anything critical because we don't have it.<p>To China, we're harmless. That's why they don't care. Smile and wave, boys.
From China's perspective there is still hope for Germany. There are still political forces in Germany who believes in Merkel's old pragmatic change-through-trade approach to foreign policy. Even if Baerbock is not one of them, she represents an administration which clearly have those elements in it.<p>To me it is obvious what path Germany will take. It cannot do a two-front economic war both against Russia and China at the same time.<p>So maybe they won't outright insult the US like Macron did but they will not join an US-led cold war on China.
Divide and conquer, this has been China's approach for a long time.<p>When Australia started to get closer to the US, China put blocks on imports, delayed customs clearance for food (so it spoiled), hoping to break Australia away from the Western Alliance.<p>When Macron wanted to visit China, he was welcomed with open arms.<p>China knows they can't go up against the entire Western world, but if they can peel off each country - one by one - they can go up against the US alone (or think they can), whether it be economic or military warfare.
German state visits to China all follow the same pattern. We go there, we bring presents, we talk about 'human rights' for a few minutes - a fig leaf just so we can claim moral superiority at home - and then we talk business for the next two to three days.<p>Up to now, that worked pretty nicely. Beijing knows that Germany, and by extension Europe, is unwilling to stop cooperating, especially since China for the longest time has been Europes 'extended workbench'. Berlin knows that Beijing is a reliable partner in manufacturing. Everyone is happy, no-one wants to change the status quo.<p>The situation is similar to the situation with Russia pre-2020 - and the last thing Europe needs is the US rattling the bars of another reliable partner.
Crazy how the Western media still clings on to people like Baerbock. Swear to God, even media in the dying days of the Ceausescu regime was not that deluded, and I say that as a on-and-off (mostly on) Economist reader for 15+ years and I also used to glimpse at some newspapers that my dad used to bring home when I was a kid (for the Ceausescu media part).
The reactions on Baerbock's previous sloppy remark that "we are in war with Russia" showed that nobody takes her seriously. China knows that they can more or less ignore her and wait until the current government is pushed out and replaced by a more sane one.
> Responding to Ms Baerbock’s expression of concern about the violation of human rights of the Uighurs, a Muslim minority in the western region of Xinjiang, he talked about “lies” that were being spread about Xinjiang. He said Ms Baerbock could come to the region at any time to see for herself.<p>Well well well. She should have said that IF she and her entourage receive guarantees that they are free to drive wherever they want AND free to photograph whatever they see, then she will take him up on his offer.