The highs and lows of Angela Merkel’s long relationship with China
- A ‘golden age’ of relations between Berlin and Beijing is believed to be coming to an end as scepticism grows in Europe
- The retiring German chancellor made 12 visits to China over the years but will not be returning to say farewell because of the pandemic
Merkel gave her hosts no warning of the meeting during her four-day state visit to China, when China and Germany agreed to a three-year series of events marking the 35th anniversary of their diplomatic ties. Relations cooled and Beijing cancelled a human rights dialogue in Berlin later that year. Merkel also refused to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics in August 2008.
The damage was mended over the years, through intensive visits by Merkel and her cabinet. No other Western leader has travelled to China as many times as Merkel – 12 during the 16 years of her chancellorship – and former premier Wen Jiabao once described her as the politician he trusted the most, “because she always told the truth”.
Despite the recent barrage of criticism in the West over her pro-engagement policy with China, there is no lack of appreciation for Merkel in Beijing, where officials and experts have labelled her as one of only a few foreign leaders to know China well.
“Merkel has stuck to a steady, balanced and pragmatic approach in dealing with China and managed relations largely undisrupted by ideological differences, a style well accepted and highly appreciated by Chinese,” said Wang Yiwei, a professor of European studies at Renmin University.
With her impending retirement from political life after the German elections on September 26, China is seeing the end of a “golden era” in bilateral relations and bracing for more turmoil and setbacks with Germany and the European Union, according to observers. “We may never see someone like her again,” Wang said.
Throughout her tenure, Merkel has pursued close economic ties with Beijing while attempting to separate contentious issues in the relationship. The close bilateral ties also led and shaped relations between China and the EU, where Merkel has been the most influential political figure in the bloc.
German exports to China rose to US$112 billion in 2020, up fivefold from 2005 when she took office, and China has been Germany’s biggest single trading partner since 2016, when it overtook the US. Germany also tops the ranking of foreign technology transfer to China, with a total of US$88.9 billion as of July last year.
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As part of Merkel’s foreign policy legacy, Berlin in 2010 became the first EU country to set up annual cabinet-level consultations and exchanges with Beijing, covering a wide range of issues from the economy, military and security, to human rights.
In October 2016 German and Chinese forces held joint drills in Chongqing – the first such exercises to be held in China with a major EU member. A reciprocal joint drill took place in Germany in 2019.
The relationship has been tested with the rising alarm in Europe over its possible overreliance on China. The takeover of German robotics giant Kuka by China’s home appliances producer Midea in 2016 served as a wake-up call, triggering tighter scrutiny on technology investment, particularly from China, in Germany and then the EU.
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Public opinion in Europe has also turned against China in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and Beijing’s growing assertiveness.
Despite the headwinds, when Germany took over the rotating European Council presidency in the second half of 2020, Merkel spearheaded talks for the landmark investment deal between Brussels and Beijing and pushed for agreement by the end of December.
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China had been Merkel’s “biggest blind spot”, according to an assessment of her foreign policy legacy by researcher Noah Barkin from the German Marshall Fund of the US.
“This is not because she failed to see the shift in China’s trajectory under Xi Jinping. But she has been slow to acknowledge the risks of this shift for Germany and adjust her policy accordingly,” he said in a report published last month.
While acknowledging the rising hi-tech competition with China, Merkel has insisted that a sound strategic relationship with China is necessary. “We must not have illusions at this point and we must measure things against the realities,” she said in September last year.
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Cui Hongjian, director of European Studies at the China Institute of International Studies, said pro-US, anti-China sentiment would squeeze Berlin’s room for diplomacy and lead to a loss of balance in its foreign policy.
“It’s possible that the conflicts set aside in the Merkel era may resurface. We may say goodbye to the period which featured stability in bilateral relations. Looking ahead, we are likely to see increasing conflicts in politics and diplomacy, which requires us to spend more effort than before in addressing them,” he said.
“Over the past 16 years, the two sides have had the wisdom and courage to overcome and manage conflicts and been able to find a proper position for problems and prevent them from striking and eroding economic cooperation.”
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But China is not on her overseas trip list after both sides failed to agree on how to manage the pandemic-control bubble arrangement, sources said.
Cui said China should not “stay passive” in its relations with the EU, adding that a post-Merkel Germany would not play a role in influencing China-EU relations as it had before.
“We should step up relations with other major EU states, just like what we have done with Merkel, meanwhile we need to find a better way to deal with the European Union, this is the new task for us,” he said.
“We need to seek to keep exchanges on political and diplomatic fronts, make it stable and sustainable, and not let them affect and even negate economic cooperation.”
