0x815
China does not play by the same rules and includes research into a wider range of industries, beyond traditional ones such as steel, including semiconductors, telecom equipment and renewable energy.
Yeah, the petrochemicals industry is set to be among the next issues.
Europe (and other regions in the Amercas, Africa, and Asia) can’t address this by tariffs alone imho. There is more to do. Not sure whether all political decision makers have understood that, but at least some appear to be heading into the right direction.
pauschales Verbot von Chinesischen Investionen in Europa
Ich bin kein Jurist, aber China macht umgekehrt genau das mit westlichen Firmen. Du kannst in China als westliche Firma kein Tochterunternehmen gründen oder ein chinesisches Unternehmen kaufen (man braucht immer einen chinesischen Partner für ein Joint Venture), kein Land kaufen (etwa für Fabriken), etc.
Aber ja, Europa deshalb nicht unbedingt alles pauschal blockieren, da stimme ich auch zu, obwohl Reziprozität bei internationaler Zusammenarbeit wichtig ist. Ob China am längeren Hebel sitzt, weiss ich nicht. Entscheidungen trifft man halt schneller in Autokratien als in Demokratien, auch wenn wir in Europa manchmal länger brauchen als nötig wäre.
Zu den sicherheitsrelevanten Produkten sollten aber meiner Ansicht nach jedenfalls noch weitere dazu kommen, etwa wenn es um Lieferketten-Audits geht. Solange es aufgrund mangelnder Transparenz keine unabhängigen Audit gibt in China, sollte man zumindest auch diese Produkte gegebenenfalls blocken, damit so Dinge wie Zwangsarbeit ausgeschlossen werden können.
Aber abgesehen von meinen Geschwafel stimme ich Dir auch zu ;-)
Volkswagen statement in May following accusations of forced labour in the Xinjiang plant (operated by VW’s joint venture with SAIC)
“[…] as no full supply chain transparency [in China] exists.”
Meanwhile, VW had left the joint venture over forced labour accusations.
Another report says:
Volkswagen said in December 2023 that an audit overseen by Markus Löning, Germany’s former commissioner for human rights, found “no indications” of forced labor at the Xinjiang joint venture plant, which is used to road test cars assembled elsewhere in China. Löning conceded, however, that the basis for the audit had been a review of documentation rather than interviews with workers, which he said could be “dangerous.” He also said that “even if they [workers] would be aware of something, they cannot say that in an interview.”
The same report continues:
In June 2023, ECCHR [European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights] filed a complaint with the [German] Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control […], the German government authority overseeing the country’s Supply Chain Act. The complaint contends that Volkswagen, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz are violating their obligations under the law by failing to adopt appropriate measures to identify and prevent the risks of state-imposed forced labor in their supply chains. [The Federal Office] has not yet responded publicly to the complaint.
And:
“We [Volkswagen] have no transparency about the supplier relationships of the non-controlled shareholding SAIC-Volkswagen.”
“Geopolitical risks, responses to China’s economic and export strategy and maintaining free trade must be weighed up against each other.”
The EU should not only focus on tariffs as the sole aspect of trade imo, but also raise the issue of state-imposed forced labor in China’s EV industry, which significantly contributes to cheap Chinese EVs, as well as other violations of human rights abuses there. Among others, this requires unhindered access to Chinese plants across the supply chain for independent audits. Volkswagen itself admitted a few weeks ago that “no full supply chain transparency exists”.
Well, China legislated the death penalty for “separatists”, a Chinese official said in June that Taiwan separatists will be “crushed to pieces”, and the Chinese ambassador to Japan said Japanese people would be dragged into the fire if they took part in forces plotting to support Taiwan’s independence and “split China”. Similar remarks came from Chinese ambassadors to other countries and other Chinese officials. You’ll find more examples on the web.
Yes, that’s a very illuminating documentary. DW shows just half of it, the entire film has around 90 minutes and was available at www.arte.tv until three or so weeks ago. Maybe Arte TV puts it online again at a later time.
I have been thinking the same. Maybe ghost.org’s federation over ActivityPub can solve the problem?