China Policy Of Germany And France

Being decisive great powers on the Europe continent, France has a long-lasting strategic relation with China and Germany’s strong economic links with China. By analysing the foreign policy of France and Germany towards China, via sources in German and French languages such as official documents, academic papers, monographs and media publications, the article aims at a comprehensive comparative work which has seldom done before, from economic and political perspectives on trade, diplomacy, human rights, security issues, etc., mainly in the "Merkozy" era. Reasons will be given from both endogenous and exogenous factors to explain the differences in their policies towards China.There are strategies and interests which they share in common while there are also performances and factors from which they differ. The core concern of both countries regarding the PRC is dominated by commercial interests from and economic links with China, however the German-Chinese economic relation is structurally stronger than the Franco-Chinese one and Germany takes a liberal approach while France is rather protectionist. Politically these two countries share the European value and Western ideology which also reveal in their common attitude towards China. Instead of persisting to their predecessors, both Merkel and Sarkozy, at the beginning of their terms of office, have switched to a more assertive and value-oriented policy which focus more in terms of political issues such as human rights. However, both approached are smoothed later and value policies have given way to more interest-oriented ones, with the concerning of China’s increasing power and influence and their economic relations which are more dependent on China.Even though Germany and France as well as the EU itself has realized the importance of coordination in order to bring more political weight dealing with China, national reflexes and separate bilateral relations are still dominant and even enhanced in the post-crisis era. A process of these two major countries on the European continent coordinating and improving EU’s China policy will still take time.