As the German economy crumbles under massive inflation and the ongoing energy crisis, the country’s chancellor is to visit Communist China, seemingly in the hope of maintaining business relations with the authoritarian state.
Olaf Scholz, the left-wing Chancellor of Germany, is reportedly set to visit Communist China in early November, with maintaining a positive business relationship with Xi Jinping’s authoritarian regime apparently being high on the agenda for the progressive politician.
It comes as increasing tensions between China and the west pose an existential threat to the German economy, which now counts the Communist nation as its single biggest trading partner.
According to a report by POLITICO, the visit will likely see Scholz becoming the first western leader to meet Xi Jinping during his historic third term in office, with his continued occupation of the position of general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party being described as an accumulation of power in the country hitherto unseen since the genocidal Mao Zedong.
Scholz will also likely be aiming to push his own climate agenda in Beijing, with the premier reportedly aiming to incorporate the authoritarian regime into his new globalist climate club aimed at curbing carbon emissions worldwide through a system of worldwide taxes.
Under the proposed scheme that was initially dreamt up by an American professor, countries within the club would aggressively pursue climate targets while hitting nations outside the organisation with massive climate tariffs to disincentivise trade.
While Scholz is no stranger to pushing his climate agenda, the Chancellor’s China visit is likely more to do with Germany’s precarious economic situation than anything else.
Just like how Germany’s overreliance on Russia for its energy supply has resulted in catastrophe this year, the country’s immense reliance on China for trade is ever increasingly being seen as a liability as Western powers sour on the Communist state.
With tensions between east and west only seemingly being on the increase over issues to do with Taiwan, as well as the genocide of minorities in the province of Xinjiang, experts have warned that Germany risks losing billions should the ongoing economic cold war turn hot.
According to research published by the ifo Institut, the damage to the German economy in such a scenario would likely be considerable, with the German automotive industry in particular being seen as very vulnerable.
Such an eventuality would in turn serve as a further black mark on the legacy of former Chancellor Angela Merkel, who allowed Germany to become overly reliant on Russia and China during her time as leader, a move that sees the central European nation face the possibility of a recession as well as rolling blackouts over the coming winter months.
The political mainstream in the country has since struggled to deal with the damaging legacy of the Merkel era, resulting in the support for the populist Alternative für Deutschland surging in recent weeks, with the party making massive gains in a recent state election in Lower Saxony last week as the centre and left saw support fall.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.