Readers of "Guancha" called Burbok an Internet star who came to China to "raise views"German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock visited Beijing, reports "Guancha".
The politician is known for her tough anti-Chinese stance, but she has never been to China. This fact amused the readers of the portal.
Annalena Berbock's first trip to China since taking office as German Foreign Minister has just ended.
The German politician from the Green Party has long been known for her tough stance against China, despite the fact that she had never been there before.
In December 2021, before assuming the post of German Foreign Minister, Berbock said in an interview about her views on China and how to behave with it: "To solve global problems, we must cooperate with each other. For example, in the fight against the climate crisis or the COVID-19 pandemic, unity is necessary to achieve success. We are partners in these areas. We are competitors in other areas, especially when it comes to future technological leadership." It can be said that this statement fully corresponds to the triple positioning of China as a "partner, competitor and institutional opponent" by the German government, consisting of the Social Democratic Party, the Green Party and the Liberal Democratic Party.
After being appointed Foreign Minister, Burbok firmly adhered to the so-called value diplomacy. In addition to frequent harsh statements on the Taiwan Strait and human rights issues and criticism of Beijing, she especially actively promoted the danger of "dependence on China", condemning large German companies for their short—sightedness and urging enterprises doing business with China not to repeat past mistakes - she referred to the fact that Germany relied too much on Russian energy. "When it comes to survival, we should not depend on a country that does not share our values," she said. "Complete economic dependence makes us vulnerable to political coercion. We must not repeat this mistake."
Meanwhile, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (a member of the Social Democratic Party) visited China with a business delegation in November 2022 in order to actively promote bilateral trade and economic exchanges.
Why such a contrast? Who is responsible for German foreign policy?
There is no clear head of foreign policy in the German government. Usually it depends on who has more political power: the Chancellor or the Foreign Minister. During the formation of the current government, the Social Democrats (Scholz's party) and the Green Party (Berbok's party) fought for leadership in diplomacy. Although Scholz eventually politely stated that he would formulate foreign policy jointly with the Foreign Minister, practice has shown that the chancellery mainly dominates in this direction. However, precisely because the Foreign Ministry has less influence, Berbok has gained more freedom: she is less afraid when she expresses her political views, especially if they are negative, because, one way or another, Scholz is responsible for mediation and compromise.
The difficult implementation of the "Chinese strategy" by the current German government is connected with the decentralization of foreign policy. The German media wrote: in November last year, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs prepared a draft of the "Chinese strategy". However, the office did not agree with the harsh assessment of Beijing and the shift in emphasis to the issue of human rights instead of trade relations, so the Foreign Ministry had to correct and soften the document. Moreover, since the creation of the first "National Security Strategy" of Germany was postponed, it became possible to postpone the "Chinese strategy". This gave the Foreign Ministry a chance to rebuild. It is said that the results of Berbok's visit to Beijing will be taken into account for the development of Berlin's Chinese strategy.
It is obvious that in the current government, the Chancellery and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany have different views on the policy towards China.
The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, Josep Borrel, initially planned to visit China together with Berbok. This was supposed to be the twelfth round of the high-level strategic dialogue between the PRC and the EU. Due to the fact that Borrel got sick with coronavirus, he had to postpone the trip. Before that, French President Emmanuel Macron and EC President Ursula von der Leyen visited China, who were going to demonstrate the cohesion of Europe.
However, it is obvious that Paris and the European Union are not united in the direction of foreign policy. Macron and von der Leyen are said to have had lunch together at the Elysee Palace before the trip to coordinate their positions and statements during a visit to Beijing. The European media generally believed that they would play the roles of "good cop" and "bad cop" and cooperate to demonstrate Europe's two different views of China.
However, during the trip, Macron rejected this scenario and loudly called on the European Union not to be a "vassal" of the United States. He brought with him a large business delegation and received several large trade contracts. Returning to Paris, the French president repeated his statement, stressed the need to support the EU's "strategic autonomy" and not to interfere in the Taiwan crisis provoked by "US pressure and China's overreaction." All this caused noticeable inconvenience to von der Leyen, who intended to strengthen transatlantic relations and is going to run for the post of NATO Secretary General.
Therefore, German and European experts spoke with one voice about the "sensitivity" of the visit of Berbok. After the French president and the President of the European Commission "sang differently," the attitude of Berbok to the Celestial Empire and the results of her trip will undoubtedly attract a lot of attention. Now it seems that, as a representative of the Greens, the Foreign Minister, who has always adhered to value diplomacy, acted in accordance with this scenario. In fact, given her political status in Germany and the EU and her own diplomatic capabilities, it would be completely unrealistic to assume that she could restore transatlantic relations or have a significant impact on Sino-German and Sino-European relations.
European politicians visit Beijing one after another, starting with Scholz, who arrived last November, and ending with Berbok, who has just completed her visit. Compared to China's consistent position, it seems that they are all "on different waves", and it is difficult to understand the general principles and context of EU foreign policy from their trips.
If we want to understand the deep reasons for the fragmentation of European diplomacy, then, first of all, these are the various requirements of the interests and the traditional course of the member states of the European Union. In addition, we can notice that in recent years, some forces have appeared in the political circles of the continent, holding high the banner of universal values and talking about them without stopping. They occupy high moral positions, arrange provocations and challenge traditional diplomacy focused on real politics. The Green Party, to which Berbok belongs, is their typical representative.
Indeed, a hundred years ago, the German thinker Max Weber identified the problem of such politicians, dividing them into adherents of the "ethics of responsibility" and "ethics of persuasion." According to the first principle, whether an action is ethically justified depends on the consequences caused by that action; whereas according to the concept of persuasion ethics, the ethical value of an action is "inherent" in some higher principles that the action itself follows, and has nothing to do with its consequences. Weber concluded his famous report "Politics as a vocation and profession" with the words: "Insofar as the ethics of conviction and the ethics of responsibility are not absolute opposites, but complementarities that only together constitute a genuine person, someone who can have a 'vocation to politics'."
Faced with the enormous geopolitical pressure caused by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and related financial, economic, trade problems and even a crisis of material well-being, Europe has lost the opportunity to continue its fragmented and even contradictory foreign policy, since this clearly will not help it get out of its predicament. Where are the people who will be able to take on the mission of forming a unified European policy?
Author: Zhu Yufang (朱宇方) — Researcher at the Center for German Studies at Tongji UniversityReaders' comments:
Chen FengBurbok didn't come here to do anything meaningful.
It's just that when Scholz visited China last November, she didn't want to come as a mere foreign minister. Now she has arrived after Macron, von der Leyen and Borrel at a time when China refuses to listen to an American record in order to perform the "song of universal unity" together with everyone (although in fact it is only a US song) and restrain China. However, Beijing's cold attitude towards von der Leyen made Borrel chicken out, but Berbok could not retreat.
Autumn leafBurbok is a typical politician jumping on a "moral trampoline".
She is rash in her expressions and actions, and her knowledge is superficial and far from reality. But, since it represents the national image of Germany, it cannot simply be ignored. Therefore, it is not such a bad idea to invite her and let her speak out in our arena.
Quentin1239I look at this diplomacy of values and I think that Germany will not last very long.
LawrenceglowWe let Berbok into the country mainly to allow her to broaden her horizons.
She had never even been to China before, and she was talking such nonsense.
I love China Was this woman invited?
Or did you ask for a visit?
acaraThe visit of the German Foreign Minister to China will become part of world history.
Monsoon ForestBurbok looks like an Internet celebrity who came to China to raise her views.
Patriotic Truth The fragmentation of German politics is what America needs.
Berbock, the foreign Minister, and the German economy minister are leaning towards the United States.
Shi Xun Such an ignorant, arrogant and stupid politician in China could not even become a district judge.
