| | | | | |  | | By Hans von der Burchard | | | BEIJING RULES IN BERLIN: Chinese Premier Li Qiang came to Berlin on Tuesday in an attempt to show Washington and other critics that China and Germany are still close allies, notwithstanding all the talk of “de-risking.” And even though German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had pushed for downsizing the German-Chinese summit — with only about half as many ministers accompanying the Chinese Premier as used to be the case — the meeting still ended up largely following Beijing's playbook. No questions, just applause please: A press conference between both leaders turned awkward for Scholz (and the watching public) after the chancellor urged China to guarantee "freedom and openness" for journalists working in the Asian country — while at the same time reporters in the room were not allowed to ask questions, at the request of the Chinese side. Instead, the meeting ended with a group of Chinese journalists applauding Li's remarks. Just how Beijing likes journalism. Li’s message: During his remarks to reporters, Li bluntly ignored Scholz’s appeal to the Chinese government to use its influence on Russia to help end the war in Ukraine. Instead, he urged the German side to deepen, not reduce, economic dependency on China. Li called for preserving existing supply chains and expanding cooperation on issues like smart manufacturing, electric cars and technological exchange. Nota bene: The German-Chinese meeting in Berlin happened just as some 800 kilometers westward, in Brussels, the European Commission presented a plan to ban European companies from making sensitive technologies such as supercomputers, artificial intelligence and advanced microchips in countries like China. That made the Scholz-Li show look even more offbeat. To be fair, no German chancellor can ignore the strong dependency of his country’s economy on China. Scholz also issued some critical remarks about Beijing’s lack of progress in opening its own economy to foreign companies (a longstanding grievance), and both sides vowed to fight climate change and boost the transition to renewable energy — a task where Chinese engagement is crucial. Yet judging by how the press conference went — with no questions, no mentioning of Taiwan and only a brief reference to human rights — Scholz may want to ask himself whether he could have presented a different picture to the world and especially his allies, who watched the Germany-China gathering critically from the sidelines. Li’s summit in Berlin was only topped by the pompous reception by the Bavarian state government in Munich on Tuesday evening. GUTEN TAG and welcome to Global Insider, coming to you this Wednesday from Berlin. My name is Hans von der Burchard, POLITICO’s senior politics reporter in Germany.
| | | | A message from the Atlantic Council Freedom and Prosperity Center: Join the Atlantic Council Freedom and Prosperity Center and official media partner Devex on July 6 for the launch of the 2023 Freedom and Prosperity Indexes – research demonstrating how economic, political, and legal freedoms is the surest path to durable prosperity. | | | | | BATTLE ROYAL ON THE GERMAN CENTER-RIGHT: Let’s take a closer look at the politician(s) who may next lead Europe’s biggest economy. Granted, Germany is not due to hold an election for over two years, and a lot can still happen in politics. Yet judging by the current polls, the center-right CDU/CSU bloc — which governed Germany for 16 years but was ousted in 2021 when Angela Merkel stepped down — has a quite reasonable chance of re-taking power from current Social Democratic Chancellor Scholz. And that’s already leading to infighting over who will be the center-right’s candidate for 2025 and — potentially — Germany’s next leader. Mark this name: The Premier of North Rhine-Westphalia, Hendrik Wüst, has in recent days sent clear signals that he’s serious about his intentions to run. In an interview, he said that the Christian Democratic Union party’s division in his state — which happens to be very powerful as it’s Germany’s most populous region — should have a say in choosing the center-right’s candidate for chancellor. He’s also penned an op-ed describing his future vision for the CDU party. And when asked whether he wants to run for chancellor, he only said that he “currently” has another job as state premier. The boss isn’t happy: All that signaling isn’t going down well with Friedrich Merz, who leads the center-right CDU and has ambitions to run as chancellor as well. In a TV interview this week, he attacked Wüst for not sufficiently caring about politics in his home state. This is shaping up to be a battle royal between two ambitious politicians that will play out in public. Reality check: The 67 year-old Merz may be party leader, but in recent months he has struggled to contain the rise of the far-right, while his approval ratings among voters aren’t great. Wüst, who is 20 years younger than Merz, may be more appealing. Then there’s still Markus Söder, the premier of Bavaria, who — provided that he doesn’t botch his re-election in October — is also widely expected to try to become the center-right’s top candidate. In other words: The race for challenging Scholz in 2025 has already started.
| | | | LISTEN TO POLITICO'S ENERGY PODCAST: Check out our daily five-minute brief on the latest energy and environmental politics and policy news. Don't miss out on the must-know stories, candid insights, and analysis from POLITICO's energy team. Listen today. | | | | | | | | | LITTLE LOVE BETWEEN WARSAW AND BERLIN: German-Polish relations have always been complicated, but over the past year they’ve reached a new low as Polish politicians regularly expressed harsh criticism of Germany — such as over the initially reluctant military support for Ukraine or the refusal to pay financial reparations for the damages of World War II. As Berlin braces for even tougher anti-German rhetoric from Poland’s ruling right-wing Law and Justice party in the run-up to Poland’s parliamentary elections this fall, Global Insider sat down with German center-right lawmaker Paul Ziemiak, the chair of the German-Polish parliamentary group. Ziemiak is a renowned Poland expert — he was born in the country himself, before emigrating to Germany in the late 1980s. German-Polish relations seem very strained. At the same time, Poland is criticized for further undermining the rule of law. What is your assessment of the situation? "What is being voiced in Poland has a lot to do with election campaigns, so that should not be overstated. Nevertheless, I am concerned about the increasing polarization in Poland. We keep pointing out that there are basic principles of the rule of law that must be observed in any case. And that also applies to Poland. At the same time, however, Berlin should hold back on exhortations, because this is not a German-Polish issue, but a European one. Germany is not the schoolmaster of other countries — which is why the European Commission must address the issue. But again, there are rule-of-law principles, and of course they apply to Poland as well." Another fraught issue is Poland's demands for reparations payments. What is your position on this? "We treat this discussion with a lot of respect and listen carefully. At the same time, the positioning is clear that this issue is legally closed for Germany. Meanwhile, our history obliges us in particular to continue to advance the European project and to put more money into it. I am thinking, for example, of the question of infrastructure [in border regions]: more cross-border trains, more money for universities.” To what extent has Germany gambled away trust in Eastern Europe with its long Russia-friendly policy? "The criticism is already very intense and comes up again and again in many conversations: We have always warned you about Russia and your dangerous energy dependence. Unfortunately, that was downplayed by many for far too long." Is it possible to regain this trust? “I still have the feeling that Poland does not enjoy the attention it should get. One example: since the beginning of Russia's war against Ukraine, Chancellor Scholz still hasn’t been to Poland — despite Poland's incredibly strong commitment to Ukraine. At least it was good that a meeting of the Weimar Triangle [of leaders from Germany, France and Poland] has now taken place again. But it's a pity that neither Poland nor the Weimar Triangle are mentioned in the German government's new security strategy."
| | | | A message from the Atlantic Council Freedom and Prosperity Center:   | | | | | NAME CALLING: Despite U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s attempt to thaw relations with China, President Joe Biden called Chinese leader Xi Jinping a dictator on Tuesday. In response, China’s foreign ministry said Biden’s comment was “extremely absurd,” POLITICO reports. HOW EUROPE STILL RELIES ON THE U.S. FOR SECURITY: Despite their calls for strategic autonomy and ‘Zeitenwende,’ European leaders know they need Washington, POLITICO reports. CHINA IN MILITARY TALKS WITH CUBA: China and Cuba are in active conversations about creating a new joint military training facility on the island nation 100 miles from the American homeland, POLITICO reports. A MARSHALL PLAN FOR UKRAINE: Global figures, governments and private investors flock to London Wednesday for the Ukraine Recovery Conference — with the price tag for rebuilding the country being already at $411 billion, POLITICO reports. SEARCHERS DETECT UNDERSEA SOUNDS IN HUNT FOR MISSING SUBMARINE: Search teams detected underwater sounds while scanning the North Atlantic for a tourist submersible that vanished with five people aboard during a deep-sea voyage to the century-old wreck of the Titanic, Reuters reports.
| | | | SUBSCRIBE TO POWER SWITCH: The energy landscape is profoundly transforming. Power Switch is a daily newsletter that unlocks the most important stories driving the energy sector and the political forces shaping critical decisions about your energy future, from production to storage, distribution to consumption. Don’t miss out on Power Switch, your guide to the politics of energy transformation in America and around the world. SUBSCRIBE TODAY. | | | | | BRAIN FOOD Trump: I was too busy to sort through the boxes I took to Mar-a-Lago: In his latest explanation for not handing back confidential government records when asked, the former president said he kept them together with his golf clothes and shoes and didn’t have time to sift through it all. More by POLITICO Thanks to editor Tim Ross and producer Sophie Gardner. SUBSCRIBE to the POLITICO newsletter family: D.C. Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook | Paris Playbook| Ottawa Playbook| EU Confidential | | Digital Bridge | China Watcher| Berlin Bulletin | D.C. Influence | EU Influence | London Influence | Paris Influence
| | | | A message from the Atlantic Council Freedom and Prosperity Center: Join the Atlantic Council Freedom and Prosperity Center and official media partner Devex for the launch of the 2023 Freedom and Prosperity Indexes.
When: 9:30 and 10:30 am EST on July 6, 2023
Where: The Atlantic Council Headquarters in Washington, DC.
Who: Dan Negrea, Senior Director of the Freedom and Prosperity Center, and Joseph Lemoine, Deputy Director
What: a discussion of findings from the 2023 Freedom and Prosperity Indexes, covering 164 countries from 1995 to 2022. The data suggest that increased economic, political, and legal freedoms is the surest path to durable prosperity. The panelists will answer questions from the in-person and online audience.
Register for the event here. For more information about the 2023 Freedom and Prosperity Indexes, please watch our video overview. | | | | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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