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Merkel: The US pushes us closer to China
Hot Air.com ^ | May 26, 2018 | JAZZ SHAW

Posted on 05/26/2018 5:08:23 PM PDT by Kaslin

German Chancellor Angela Merkel still isn’t showing any signs of warming up to the Trump administration, seemingly running her own European version of the #RESIST movement. She’s not on the same page in terms of military spending by her country, trade deficits or America dropping out of the Iran deal. And what’s the practical upshot of all this in her mind? Perhaps instead of the United States, China would be better to have a special relationship with. Or at least that seemed to be the message coming out of her trip to Beijing this week. (Reuters, emphasis added)

China welcomes German firms and will protect their investments, China’s Premier Li Keqiang said on Thursday after meeting visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who said Germany supported Chinese investment there.

Merkel faces a delicate diplomatic balancing act on her two-day China visit, which is clouded by U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade threats and his decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal…

Merkel’s government shares many of the Trump administration’s concerns about Chinese business practices, including what many Western countries have complained are state-backed efforts to pressure foreign companies into giving up trade secrets.

But Trump’s “America First” trade policy, his administration’s professed disdain for the World Trade Organization, as well as his withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, have pushed China and Germany into closer alignment, German officials say.

This isn’t the first time that Merkel has dangled this particular threat in our direction. Going all the way back to June of last year, she was in talks with China and spoke about how that nation was going to need to be a strategic trading partner going forward since Germany could no longer rely on the United States. Of course, given America’s lengthy history of both trade and antagonism with the Chinese, she would probably be wise to take our experiences into account before doing anything hasty. Remember when Sauruman decided to make an alliance with Mordor?

Trading with China is one thing. Everybody does it, including the United States (in massive amounts). But that doesn’t make them a full partner in any sense nor any less of a potential threat. They’re also not the most reliable trading associate, particularly given how often they absorb the technology anyone exports to them and then steals their intellectual property rights. And they’re not exactly a good ideological fit either. Merkel may be a seriously left-wing socialist, but the Germans still have a generally open society. China’s communist regime is something else entirely. Has Merkel forgotten her misgivings about China’s human rights record and aggressive military stance in the South China Sea?

This was Merkel’s 11th trip to China in her 13 years as Chancellor. Up until now, she’s maintained a relatively delicate balance between their two nations. It will be interesting to see if she jumps into the quicksand fully this year.

Update: Another view tweeted by Fox News, focusing more on Iran v. China.

Amb. @RichardGrenell: "Companies get to choose. They can either choose to do business with the United States, or they can choose to do business with Iran; but they're not going to be able to do both." #TheStory pic.twitter.com/B8pIXX6QD7

— Fox News (@FoxNews) May 25, 2018



TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Editorial; Foreign Affairs; Germany; Government
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1 posted on 05/26/2018 5:08:23 PM PDT by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

Damn Stasi bitch wants to head that direction anyway. Adios.


2 posted on 05/26/2018 5:09:15 PM PDT by AlaskaErik (I served and protected my country for 31 years. Progressives spent that time trying to destroy it.)
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To: All

Idiot, China will roll over you like pea pod.


3 posted on 05/26/2018 5:10:27 PM PDT by gibsonguy
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To: AlaskaErik

yeah go ahead munchkin queen lol


4 posted on 05/26/2018 5:10:38 PM PDT by max americana (Fired libtard employees 9 consecutive times at every election since 08'. I hope all liberals die.)
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To: Kaslin

Good luck building stuff out of cheap Chinese metal. Har. Har.


5 posted on 05/26/2018 5:11:02 PM PDT by InvisibleChurch (https://thepurginglutheran.wordpress.com)
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To: Kaslin

So what’s new? Germany goes over to the Dark Side once again.


6 posted on 05/26/2018 5:12:50 PM PDT by mass55th (Courage is being scared to death - but saddling up anyway...John Wayne)
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To: Kaslin
"...China welcomes German firms and will protect their investments, China’s Premier Li Keqiang said..."

Why wouldn't they fall for that?

They are intellectually so far towards China that that this probably makes complete sense for the Germans.

7 posted on 05/26/2018 5:12:58 PM PDT by rlmorel (Leftists: They believe in the "Invisible Hand" only when it is guided by government.)
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To: Kaslin

Well, Bitch, your country does have a history of choosing the wrong side


8 posted on 05/26/2018 5:14:51 PM PDT by A_Former_Democrat (Ban athiests, not guns)
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To: Kaslin

There is no Germany.


9 posted on 05/26/2018 5:15:37 PM PDT by The Toll
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To: AlaskaErik

beat me to it.


10 posted on 05/26/2018 5:16:17 PM PDT by txnativegop (The political left, Mankinds intellectual hemlock)
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To: Kaslin

It stands to reason that it would be an *East* German who,after 100 years of trying,finally figured out how to destroy Europe.


11 posted on 05/26/2018 5:16:28 PM PDT by Gay State Conservative (You Say "White Privilege"...I Say "Protestant Work Ethic")
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To: Kaslin

12 posted on 05/26/2018 5:16:57 PM PDT by gaijin
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To: Kaslin
OH, I thought it was Meghan duchess of Sussex. 😹👸🏼👑
13 posted on 05/26/2018 5:17:30 PM PDT by rktman (Enlisted in the Navy in '67 to protect folks rights to strip my rights. WTH?)
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To: Kaslin

Not just China: “Germany further stepping up Russian gas imports following records of 2016 and 2017”
http://www.gazprom.com/press/news/2018/may/article431649/

Meanwhile, in Italy: “Eurosceptic in Italy’s government standoff is ‘radically anti-German’”.
https://www.thelocal.de/20180526/eurosceptic-in-italys-government-standoff-is-radically-anti-german


14 posted on 05/26/2018 5:18:44 PM PDT by ameribbean expat
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To: Kaslin

Great, I’m sure she’ll love to invite the PLA into Ramstein and the other bases.


15 posted on 05/26/2018 5:19:07 PM PDT by rfp1234 (I have already previewed this composition.)
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Sorry but China will not prove to be an easy profit opportunity for your mercantilist system Angela. You see the Chinese are just as mercantile themselves discouraging imports while exporting as much as possible to your country via currency manipulation, bureaucratic rules specifically designed to make importing difficult, etc.

Yours is a completely empty threat and everyone knows it.


16 posted on 05/26/2018 5:22:54 PM PDT by FLT-bird (..)
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To: Kaslin

Commies sticking together...


17 posted on 05/26/2018 5:29:38 PM PDT by Paladin2
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To: Kaslin

The Dragon will have a nice meal. Kraut. Burp


18 posted on 05/26/2018 5:33:12 PM PDT by shalom aleichem
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To: Kaslin

Traitor they name is Merkel.


19 posted on 05/26/2018 5:37:59 PM PDT by Williams (Stop tolerating the intolerant.)
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To: Kaslin

Europeans have lost their nerve and self-respect and so, they are dying out. There’s no dynamism in their society, only rot.


20 posted on 05/26/2018 5:38:24 PM PDT by Crucial
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