German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has told an Australian audience that her country has “learned a lot from Australia” on protecting its security interests from hostile authorities like Beijing.
“China has changed, and that’s why our policy toward China also needs to change,” she said. “China is a rival when it comes to the very fundamentals of how we live together in this world.”
The comments from the German foreign minister follow her government’s adoption of a new Beijing strategy which moves to de-risk its trade relationship with China.
The strategy identifies several key actions taken by the CCP as the reasoning behind the new approach, including Beijing’s decision to further its relations with Russia, its increasingly assertive push for regional hegemony, and its use of economic coercion.
Australia a Role Model for Dealing With China
The foreign minister said Germany learned a painful lesson from its over-reliance on overseas partners during the onset of the Ukraine-Russian conflict.“We don’t want to repeat that mistake,” she said.
“China is not always as predictable, transparent and reliable as is needed to allow a stable economic relationship. Australia knows what that means,” said Ms. Baerbock.
“You experience painfully how China is willing to use economic coercion when it imposed restrictions on key exports like wine, meat and coal to exert political pressure. You have actually been a role model in not bowing to that pressure. I want to express my great respect for the courage and resilience, as well as the sense of proportion that you demonstrated.”
The foreign minister said Germany had kept a close eye on Australia’s foreign policy, particularly Canberra’s ban on Chinese company Huawei from the 5G network and foreign investment regulations.
“We are also looking more closely at the actors that are investing in our critical infrastructure—in our ports, roads or telecommunications networks,” she said.
EU Trade Deal Needs to be Completed
The German foreign minister also called on Australia to push ahead with a new free trade deal with the European Union, saying it will make both countries stronger.“It’s good news that the EU and New Zealand signed a free trade agreement last month, which could increase trade between both sides by up to 30 percent,” she said.
The comments from Ms. Baerbock follow Australia’s decision to walk away from the negotiating table after sticking points around primary products like wine and cheese could not be resolved.
Geographical indications are a type of trademark that establishes intellectual property rights for specific products whose qualities are linked to a specific region.
If Australia accepts the demand, local producers will be banned from using protected names such as parmesan, feta or prosecco for their products, potentially imposing substantial costs and drawbacks on Australian businesses.
However, so far, Australia has pushed back on the request from the EU.
In an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Agriculture Minister Murray Watt admitted that negotiations had hit a roadblock.
“We’ve obviously been very clear about our position from the beginning of these negotiations that we really need to see some commercially meaningful expansion of new markets for our producers for this deal to be worth doing.
“And equally, we need the EU to understand our position when it comes to those geographic indicators.”
