This article appears in the June 16, 2023 issue of Executive Intelligence Review.
Chinese, German Experts Discuss the
Risks of the West’s ‘China Strategy’
[Print version of this article]
June 8—The Schiller Institute sponsored a special online seminar June 7, titled “What Are the Risks of the West’s ‘China Strategy’?” that brought together experts from Germany and China to discuss the growing pressure from the Atlanticist faction to decouple Western economies from China, under the newly devised buzzword of “de-risking.” The speakers were Helga Zepp-LaRouche, President of the Schiller Institute, Germany; Zhang Jun, Dean of the School of Economics at Fudan University in Shanghai, China; Charles Liu, Senior Fellow of the Taihe Institute, China; and Ole Döring, Professor at Foreign Language Studies College of Hunan Normal University, and a frequent lecturer in Germany. A video of the two-hour discussion is available here.
The seminar announcement noted that in the current geopolitical environment, Western leaders are moving away from referring to China as a “partner,” and emphasizing China more as a “rival.” The German government has declared China a security risk and is working on a plan to impose import and export controls, investment barriers, and other sanctions on China.
There are lessons to be learned from the Western sanctions against Russian energy commodities and goods, which have largely backfired on Europe. China is both the world’s most important market and the greatest production center, and its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is bringing infrastructure development to the majority of countries in need. Will the West reflect on this fact and create a new paradigm of peaceful win-win cooperation? Since the mainstream Western “narrative” leaves no space for such a debate, the organizers of the seminar sought to provide a platform for international thinkers, entrepreneurs, and policy strategists to have that public conversation. Zepp-LaRouche said at the end of the event, that the Schiller Institute may continue to co-sponsor monthly online discussions in this format. During the question-and-answer period, many questions came in from the international audience.
Stephan Ossenkopp, the moderator, made some initial observations. He is from the Schiller Institute, in Berlin. He noted that during the previous few days, the head of the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), the German Federal Intelligence Agency, had alleged that 40,000 Chinese students in Germany could potentially be working as spies. German authorities will therefore closely monitor cooperation in the scientific and high-tech fields. The G7 countries will monitor investments in China and many other countries by member nations, and the EU has announced sanctions on companies which are allegedly helping Russia.
An ‘Ominous Word—De-Risking’
In her opening statement, Zepp-LaRouche commented on what she called an “ominous new word … ‘de-risking’.” Regarding the damage being done to the German economy by the German government’s decision to join the Anglo-American economic warfare against China, she said, “What is at stake is much more than the economic relation between Europe and China; it is the existence of Germany as an industrial state.” The “North”—the Atlanticist nations plus Japan—is going not only against China, but against the BRICS and, de facto, against the entire Global South. She expressed her agreement with Malaysia’s former Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamad, who warned that this leads to World War III.
Zepp-LaRouche marveled at “the amazing lack of interest” shown by the German government in investigating the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines. She went on to list a number of devastating statistics for the German economy, including that up to 46% of German industrial companies are considering relocation to the U.S. or China, and many sizable firms have already moved. She warned of an impending systemic crisis, because the essential problem went unresolved in the financial crisis of 2008.
The Schiller Institute founder then discussed China’s role in the world today. The BRI gives 150 nations their first opportunity to realize their innate right to overcome poverty and underdevelopment. The Chinese economy is the world’s true growth engine:
President Lula heralded the new development bank headquartered in Shanghai as the coming great bank of the Global South. For Germany and other European nations, a positive future without cooperation with the Global South is impossible.
Prof. Zhang Jun made the second presentation. He emphasized that the West is trying to isolate China, but China can sustain its economic development by itself if necessary, including developing its own technologies to replace those being denied to it by the West—which may not be a bad thing; in the long run, this will give China added incentive to speed up its R&D. Likewise, Western nations can find an alternative to the supply chain of China, but it will come with a high cost.
Prof. Döring followed Prof. Zhang, lamenting the “serious, unprecedented, unfortunate, and entirely unnecessary” confrontation being orchestrated between Europe and China. Referring to the neocons who are demanding such a confrontation, he said, “After 1989, they have entered a mind-zone called ‘The End of History’.” Developing this idea further, he asserted that “Contextual concepts such as race, gender, and even culture have been deprived of their real meaning and have become weaponized.” As an antidote, he suggested that “The West needs fresh input of realism and pragmatism in order to regain a humanistic balance. Such input can come from peoples and cultures who are eager to learn, and willing and able to share. Obviously, this makes China the number one choice as an ally....”
Charles Liu began his presentation with an overview of the unfolding drama: “It’s not just China; it’s the growth of Asia, the swing from the West to the East,” which “had China at its core.” “What we had in China,” he said, “was the building of the most sophisticated, and the most modern, supply chain, and logistics system, that exists in the world today.” He quoted Deng Xiaoping: “To get wealthy, you have to build a road first.” What China wants, he argued, is not to hear preaching from Europe about political correctness. China wants peace and stability, so that everybody can develop and benefit. Europe risks becoming entirely a vassal of the Americans, and missing the boat of the BRI and the many benefits it brings.
A New Paradigm, or a New Global War
During the discussion period, Zepp-LaRouche concurred with Liu that the European leadership is on a “high horse,” saying, “I find them arrogant and stupid…. The best thing that can happen is that the countries of the Global South make their voice more heard.” Warning of the consequences of Europe’s continued bellicosity, she said, “If we do not get our act together, I think Europe will be a relic on the sidelines of history, and you will soon be able to study Germany and other European countries in the museums of the Global South, as a civilization that didn’t make it.”
Liu, in response to a question sent in from an Italian viewer about Prime Minister Georgia Meloni’s intention to withdraw from the BRI, stated, “If Italy moves away from the Belt and Road, it’s a signal that Italy wants to join the U.S. in punishing China.” He warned that this leads toward the de-industrialization of Europe.
Ole Döring offered the perspective of a German who currently resides in China. He reported that China does not wish Europe to collapse, and that it is important to the world that Europe be a functioning member of the world community.
Zepp-LaRouche went on to declare that the old paradigm of the unipolar world is over:
A lot of people should travel to China. My experience is that whoever has been there, or has done business there, or is married with a Chinese, or has some other way of knowing about China, knows that they are completely different, they have a completely different view.
Regarding the threat of a nuclear conflict if the war faction is not reined in, she said:
Are we not the intelligent species who should be able to find forms of self-governing that are not leading to our self-destruction, which would be the case if we had a global war with nuclear weapons?
She offered once again her Ten Principles of a New International Security and Development Architecture.
In the closing remarks, Prof. Döring cited Immanuel Kant: freedom means responsibility. There is no human being without education. Responding to other speakers who had mentioned Confucius, he posed the question: Can we combine Kant and Confucius for education?
Mr. Liu summed up his previous contributions to the discussion, warning that decoupling, and interruption of supply chains, will cause social disorder and downgrading of living standards all over the world. Even without World War III, we could have a mess all over the world.
Mrs. Zepp-LaRouche concluded by saying that this moment of hope, when we could have a new era for mankind, could be ruined by “de-risking”/decoupling. Confucius’s image of the Sage and Schiller’s conception of the Beautiful Soul are compatible visions of what is needed. Young Chinese are interested in Europe’s classical culture—we need to make the interest mutual.
