A Study On The Evolution Of Merkel Government's Policy On China

Merkel replaced the practice by previous governments with a value-led diplomatic strategy after she took office,which brings tremendous change to Germany's policy on China.Sino-German relations had been experiencing unprecedented hard times in her early administrations.With the outbreak of subprime crisis in which Germany suffered severe economic setbacks,however,Merkel was forced to change her stance against China for the sake of national interest.As a result,relations between both countries start to gain fast development.Germany government's policy on China undergoes three stages,from unilateral to bilateral,and then to comprehensive after Merkel took office.In her first term,Merkel adopted the value diplomatic policy,attempting to force China to accept political reform and ultimately,the western mode with “the power of civilization”.Such a practice apparently crossed the line in the relations and caused severe damage to their political ties.In European debt crisis,Germany was compelled to make compromise with China.Economy became the theme in national ties,while value became an implicit factor.In her third term,the relation was defined as strategic cooperative partnership in an all-round way.Both parties are seeking cooperation in economy,politics,security and environmental protection.Compared with Germany's previous policy on China vertically and other contents of the current policy on China horizontally,Merkel's polices are characterized by consistency,tortuosity and specialty.On the one hand,she inherited the economic guidelines by her previous administrations.On the other hand,ups and downs in political relations do not exert much impact on their well-developed economic ties.Economic interests have always been the key in Sino-German relations.By contrast,values and other political factors will not determine Germany's policy on China.The shared interests between both parties always outweigh disparities.Undoubtedly,the current Sino-German relations are successful,as can be demonstrated by Merkel's nine visits to China in her terms,who has now been reputed as the leader of Sino-European relations.Besides inter-governmental negotiation mechanism and frequent exchange of high-level visits,Germany has been an active participant in China's proposal on Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and “the belt and the road” initiative under the leadership of Merkel.By promoting political mutual trust and expanding areas for cooperation in a new cooperative framework,Germany is striving to lay a solid foundation for a new golden decade for Sino-German relations.