ASIA BRIEFING:IT IS hard not to see the sophisticated and successful way the Germans engage with China and not feel a little envious at the kind of economic and political muscle they have.
The cadre’s car of choice is the Audi A6 or the VW Jetta, millions of which cram the roads. There is German input into nearly every industry, from pharmaceuticals to engineering and on to textile production. The German flag carrier Lufthansa operates a sleek fleet of Airbus A380s between Frankfurt and Beijing and other Chinese cities, and the business sections of these enormous planes are full of industrious German business people tapping away at their laptops.
In January, Mercedes-Benz sold 15,390 cars in China, a flat but still remarkable performance when you consider the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said overall passenger vehicle sales fell 23.8 per cent in January as the week-long lunar new year holiday ate into shopping days.
Trade volume between China and Germany is expected to exceed €152 billion this year, premier Wen Jiabao told chancellor Angela Merkel during a high-profile and successful visit this month. At this meeting, she was able to raise thorny political subjects such as human rights as well as the bilateral issues the two countries share, without fear of being frozen out. This means she can boost trade, but still appease domestic critics who feel the German government should also apply more political pressure for liberalisation and democratisation in China.
The visit was Merkel’s fifth official visit to China since she took office in 2005.
The last Irish visit at prime ministerial level was by Brian Cowen in 2008, an underwhelming affair which involved the taoiseach being delayed because of domestic woes, and his attention was clearly elsewhere by the time he got to China.
The news yesterday then that Taoiseach Enda Kenny had accepted an invitation by China’s incoming leader Xi Jinping during his Irish trip to visit China next month was welcome.
Kenny has been scheduled to visit on several occasions since he took office, but this has yet to materialise for whatever reasons.
With China preparing to shut down ahead of the changeover of Communist Party leadership in October, time had been running out. Perhaps, building on the goodwill generated Xi Jinping’s visit here, the Taoiseach’s reciprocal trip will help leverage Ireland’s influence in China.
