US Intervention in Berlin: China not to gain control of a Hamburg terminal

Intervention of United States in Berlin so that it does not return to Beijing to gain control of a Hamburg terminal, a senior US State Department official said on Wednesday. Because of the case, the Bild newspaper has a strong profile of the chancellor “China Salts”.

Chinese shipping giant Cosco has made an offer in 2021 to acquire a 35% stake in one of HHLA’s three terminals in Germany’s biggest port, but the ruling coalition in Berlin remains divided over whether the deal will go ahead.

Germany approved the sale of a 24.9% stake in the terminal to Cosco last week. That figure is down from the original sell-off figure, following backlash over the deal from the two smaller government partners in German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s tripartite government coalition.

With the takeover being less than 25%, government approval is not required, which would be difficult to achieve as there are ministries controlled by the Greens and Liberals.

“The embassy was very clear in the fact that we strongly suggested that China should not have a percentage of control. As you saw when the agreement was updated, there is no such thing,” said a US State Department official speaking on condition of anonymity.

Ensuring that the city of Hamburg and the port itself still has a majority “is important for the standards we are trying to establish between all G7 member states, but also for the rest of the world,” a second official added. .

The news of US interference in the deal comes days before Scholz makes his first visit to China, which will be closely watched for signs of the extent to which Berlin is seriously considering reducing its economic dependence on China. China, but also to come into confrontation with its communist leadership.

The second US State Department official said Washington is working with its European partners to ensure that any investments by China in areas of strategic interest that raise security questions are carefully scrutinized and action is taken.

Critics of the deal have accused Scholz of continuing to prioritize Germany’s economic interests over broader security interests.

The Foreign Ministry, controlled by the Greens, said in a document read by Reuters that investment in the port “expands disproportionately the strategic effect of China in German and European transport infrastructure, as well as Germany’s dependence on China”.

RES-EMP

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