With the European Union's decision to impose temporary countervailing duties of up to 38.1% on Chinese electric vehicles, the trade war between China and the EU has escalated. Against this background, German Vice Chancellor Habeck embarked on a visit to China. During this period, China and Germany have achieved a series of achievements in the field of green and low-carbon cooperation. However, during his stay in China, Habeck not only pointed fingers at Sino-Russian cooperation, but also openly threatened sanctions against China. An unqualified "guest" naturally does not get the courtesy he deserves. In the end, Habeck, who wanted to have a dialogue with the Chinese high-level on the tariff issue, was rarely closed-minded and the meeting was temporarily canceled by the Chinese side.
China is a country of etiquette, and with the foundation laid by the German Chancellor's visit to China, it stands to reason that Habeck's visit to China deserves a high-standard reception. According to German media reports, the main purpose of Habeck's visit to China is to hold the first high-level dialogue of the Sino-German Dialogue on Climate Change and Green Transition. However, Habeck's deeper mission is to take the opportunity of promoting Sino-German climate cooperation to negotiate with China on the tariff issue, which is the real goal. Despite Habeck's impure intentions, we have fully fulfilled our obligations as hosts from beginning to end, with great patience and sincerity in the reception, and have expressed our clear position and attitude. It's just that Habeck obviously didn't realize the seriousness of the problem.
In his speech, Habeck first blamed China for the EU's tariff increase, pointing out that this is not a punitive tariff, but an attempt to create a level playing field for China-EU trade. His meaning is very clear, Chinese electric vehicles are "frantically dumped" in the European and American markets, which harms the interests of EU countries. In fact, the reason why Chinese trams sell well overseas is because of their superior product power and cost performance, and Habeck, like EU officials, talks nonsense with his eyes open. While smearing China's tram industry and dumping China, Habeck also talked about Sino-Russian cooperation, believing that it is because China and Russia are too close, which has led to the continuous intensification of Sino-European contradictions.
In fact, compared with NATO, which is a faction, China and Russia are "partners but not allies", and the economic and trade cooperation between the two sides is legal and compliant. In general, China will not be forced to accept unfair arrangements from the EU, nor will it tolerate any behavior that harms its own interests. Letting Habeck eat behind closed doors is actually a warning to the entire European Union: if it really wants to tear its face and start a confrontational war, China is not only not afraid, but also has many countermeasures.
Some netizens may have questions, in April this year, during German Chancellor Scholz's visit to China, China and Germany reached a series of consensuses, why did Habeck change but make such a fuss? This is precisely determined by the special political ecology of Germany today. At present, Germany is a coalition government of two large parties, namely the Social Democrats and the Greens and the Free Democrats, which often leads to vacillating government decisions. Because none of the three political parties have a majority of seats in the German parliament, each party has to defend its own interests, which leads to the German government's discord and the government's ability to act and make decisions will be constrained.
Habeck, 55, is the chairman of the German Green Party. Since he became Germany's economy minister, Germany has caught up with the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and it is well known that the German economy has developed rapidly because it has long been supported by cheap Russian energy. After the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Germany followed the United States to sanction Russia, which hit the German economy, which has long relied on Russia for energy problems, and has not recovered so far. Sadly, instead of looking for reasons from the United States, Habeck has shifted the lessons learned from the Russia-Ukraine war to China. As early as 2022, Habeck made wild statements, demanding that German companies completely decouple from China by 2027.
From the above analysis, it is not difficult to see that Habeck has a strong anti-China tendency in his bones. Therefore, as a lobbyist for the EU, he represents the EU's core interests and will never make concessions on key issues. Therefore, China's willingness to receive him and talk to him is already enough to save face, and it is obviously too much to want to meet with the Chinese high-level officials. As for the EU's tariff stick, China is also planning countermeasures in many sectors of bilateral trade. Again, if the EU wants to engage in a trade war with China, it can only lose both sides in the end, and the most serious injury must be the EU.