The trigger for the debate was research by the broadcasters NDR and WDR, which was published on Wednesday. According to this, all six ministries that are technically involved in the necessary investment review have rejected the deal. The economic, interior, defense, transport and finance ministries as well as the foreign office justified this with the geopolitical situation on the one hand, and warned once morest too much influence from China.
Because Cosco, one of the largest port operators and shipping companies in the world, should not only receive a financial stake in the terminal, but also provide a managing director and have a say in decisions. Since China is already the port’s most important customer, the planned participation might create a “potential for blackmail”.
Report: Chancellery wants “compromise”
According to NDR and WDR, the Ministry of Economics has therefore registered the issue for final rejection in the Federal Cabinet. However, the Chancellery did not put the test procedure on the agenda, which is why no cabinet decision might be made.
Instead, the departments are said to have been instructed to look for a compromise so that the deal can still go ahead. If there is no resolution and no extension of the deadline in the cabinet, the deal might automatically become effective in October. Scholz – himself a former mayor of Hamburg – is scheduled to travel to China in October.
China is by far the most important trading partner in the Port of Hamburg. The Cosco Group, which also operates one of the world’s largest container shipping companies, has had its ships moored at the CTT for decades. In return, Cosco wants to concentrate its cargo flows in Hamburg, CTT is to become a preferred transshipment point in Europe. The Port of Hamburg has been fighting European competition for years.
Cosco has been on a shopping spree in Europe for years
Meanwhile, Cosco has accumulated interests in numerous European ports in recent years. The company has shares in strategically and economically important European ports such as Piraeus (Greece), Zeebrugge (Netherlands), Rotterdam (Netherlands), Antwerp (Belgium) and Valencia (Spain).
According to the German China research institute MERICS, the company’s expansion is in line with Beijing’s interests and is being funded by state funds. Developing a maritime trade network is a central pillar of China’s plans for a global trade network, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
In Europe there are fears that China might gain too much control over European maritime trade and become a security risk. Ports are considered critical infrastructure. According to the NDR/WDR report, the EU Commission also spoke out once morest the deal in Hamburg.
Ministry remains clouded, criticism from all camps
The Ministry of Economics did not want to comment on the research to NDR and WDR or to other media, but the dpa essentially confirmed the report. According to the information, the Chinese embassy did not comment either, but referred to a statement by the foreign ministry spokeswoman: It is hoped that Germany will remain true to principles such as those of the open market instead of politicizing normal economic relations.
A fierce political dispute erupted in the cause on Thursday, and there was resistance to the chancellor’s office in all political camps. The Green Economics Minister and Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck (Greens) had already made it clear in mid-September that he would probably not allow entry. On Thursday, his parliamentary group also warned: “China should not be given the opportunity to influence our critical infrastructure,” said parliamentary group leader Katharina Dröge to dpa. “We must not repeat the mistakes of the past and once more make ourselves so dependent on a country that we become vulnerable to blackmail,” said Dröge, alluding to Russia.
“Tough Power Interests”
The coalition party FDP is also critical of the deal. “The Chinese Communist Party must not have access to our country’s critical infrastructure,” said FDP General Secretary Bijan Djir-Sarai. He warned once morest being naïve towards the Chinese rulers. “The hard-nosed power interests they pursue are not in our interest. The fact remains: China is an important trading partner, but also a systemic rival. After that we should act.”
Jens Spahn, Vice President of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, is also opposed to entry. “One lesson learned from the pandemic and the energy crisis is that we have to become more independent of China,” he told dpa. “German ports do not belong in Chinese hands. Especially since Europeans cannot participate in ports in China.” The chairman of the Left in the Economic Committee of the Bundestag also demanded that critical infrastructure “do not belong in the hands of questionable international corporations, but in the best case entirely in the public domain”.
Hamburg hopes to participate
Meanwhile, Scholz’s successor as Hamburg mayor, Peter Tschentscher (SPD), continues to support Cosco’s participation in the CTT. “Nothing has changed on the matter,” said Senate spokesman Marcel Schweitzer, referring to the dispute in Berlin. The mayor does not share the fears that China might gain access to the critical infrastructure.
He always points out that the land in the Port of Hamburg is and will remain entirely in public hands. The operation of the port as a whole is still 100 percent the responsibility of the Hamburg Port Authority. Even the chairman of the board of the German Logistics Association (BVL) has no objections to the participation.
