Berlin, Bangkok Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck (Green) want to make Germany more independent from China. They mainly focus on Southeast Asia and India.
As a consequence of this turning point, “we had to expand our sales markets, our supply chain, our sources of raw materials and production locations so that we were not dependent on each individual country,” said Scholz at the start of his trip to Asia in Vietnam. Around the same time, Habeck stated at the Asia-Pacific Conference in Singapore: “We have to reorganize our trade policies. We need other countries, other partners.”
Berlin sees huge negative economic consequences if Beijing attacks Taiwan. In some cases, dependence on China for essential raw materials is close to 100 percent. Habeck therefore called for more speed, especially with trade agreements, and urged fast talks on a free trade agreement between the EU and India: “The world is not waiting for Germany and Europe to rise.”
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