Fool Me Twice: German Intel Warns ‘Naive’ Govt Against Falling Into Trap of Over-Reliance on China

BEIJING, CHINA - JANUARY 18: German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz (C) and Chinese Vice Prem
Andy Wong-Pool/Getty Images
Kurt Zindulka

The ‘naive’ German government is walking into the same trap with China as it did by over-relying on Russia for its energy, says the leaders of Germany’s intelligence community.

In their annual briefing to the Bundestag, the head of Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service (BND) Bruno Kahl, alongside Military Counterintelligence (MAD) President Martina Rosenberg and the president of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) Thomas Haldenwang, collectively warned against the “naivety” of the government in its relationship with China.

The intelligence chiefs said that the continued desire to forge close relationships with Beijing will leave the country vulnerable to China in a similar fashion to the foolhardy approach by the government towards Moscow, which has left the economic powerhouse of Europe in an energy crisis. The government should not, therefore, put “profit over security”.

In comments reported by state-broadcaster DW, Mr Kahl said that in light of a “globally ascendant autocratic China,” Germany “must be prepared for the fact that … economic levers could be used to enforce Chinese ideas. Should there be differences in the political views of Germany on the one side and China on the other, then these means will also be used.”

BfV President Haldenwang added: “We must not allow a situation in which the Chinese state can influence political events in Germany.”

Kahl went on to chastise lawmakers for failing to heed warnings from the intelligence community in terms of the dangers posed by Russia, claiming that the government was repeatedly told that such an energy crisis could arise over conflicts in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, last week, a declassified document from the then-Angela Merkel-controlled government in November — just four months prior to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia — revealed that the administration had believed that Germany’s energy security “won’t be jeopardised” by the expansion of reliance on Russian energy through the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

“For both the German and neighbouring markets, the risk of serious impairments to supply security due to the failure of individual import supply infrastructures is very limited,” the government review stated.

The document was released following threats from Der Spiegel magazine, which characterised the release as a “certificate of naivety”.

Khal said that the past failures of the government in failing to recognise the pitfalls of relying on Russia for energy should be a lesson going forward in terms of China, beseeching lawmakers to listen to their concerns instead of “brushing off intelligence services’ warnings as scaremongering and grandstanding”.

Under the globalist government of Angela Merkel, Germany saw economic ties with China increase to such a degree that the communist nation became its top trading partner in 2018, as many German businesses opened up manufacturing in China.

Due to the growing reliance on China, German firms have been at the forefront of a pressure campaign to cow fellow EU member state Lithuania into backtracking after it opened up a de-facto Taiwanese embassy in Vilnius, enraging Beijing.

Major German companies, including Hugo Boss, Aldi, Lidl, and C&A have also been accused by the European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) of profiting off of the slave labour system in Xinjiang, an allegation which the firms deny. Top automotive firms Volkswagen and BMW have also been accused of benefiting from the use of slave labour in the Xinjiang region, where millions of Muslim Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities have reportedly been subject to internment in concentration camps, torture and sterilisation.

Despite facing criticism for partnering with the authoritarian regime, Volkswagen announced last week its plans to move forward with a €2.4 billion ($2.3 billion) driverless car project with China’s Horizon Robotics.

During his testimony, the spy chief went on to caution against allowing Chinese investors from making the Belt and Road-style purchase of a large stake in the shipping container terminal at the port of Hamburg, which is currently waiting for government approval.

“Of course a port, for example, is the type of critical infrastructure that you have to examine very carefully before you enter into a commitment,” Khal said.

Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here @KurtZindulka

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