German lawmaker says 'foolish' to jeopardize economic relations with China

BERLIN -- "It would be foolish to jeopardize our good economic relations with China," Sevim Dagdelen, a member of Germany's lower house of parliament, told Xinhua during a recent interview.

Without close cooperation with China, Germany and Europe will be at risk of self-isolation and industrial decline in the globalized world, said Dagdelen, chairwoman of the Die Linke (Left Party) parliamentary group of the German Bundestag's Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Noting that China is Germany's most important trading partner, she said Germany is dependent on imports from the Asian country, especially regarding raw materials and technology products.

In addition, she said the German economy depends on the Chinese market, noting that around 5,000 German companies operate in China, and hundreds of thousands of jobs in Germany depend on such cooperation.

Dagdelen, who had wrapped up a visit to China this summer, told Xinhua that after exchanges with Chinese officials, entrepreneurs and scholars, she was impressed by their far-sightedness, thinking and actions focusing on the common good.

"It was also clear from my talks that China wants cooperation and friendly relations with Germany and Europe and has no interest in confrontation," she said.

Dagdelen noted that the term "de-risking" is being used differently by different stakeholders in Germany, but "in most cases, it is disingenuous."

"The use of this new term appears to stem from the realization that a completely uncontrolled decoupling from China would lead to Germany's deindustrialization, with massive social upheavals," she said.

She stressed that the future of relations between China and Germany will depend on whether the voices of reason calling for cooperation and dialogue with China rather than confrontation and escalation prevail in Germany.

Speaking on Europe's strategic autonomy, Dagdelen stressed that the prerequisite for an autonomous and sovereign European foreign and security policy -- and economic policy -- would be emancipation from US imperialism and NATO's policy of confrontation.

The European Union should resist US attempts to hinder its decline as a global hegemon and the shift towards a multipolar world, Dagdelen said, adding that such a move would bolster the peace, security and prosperity of Europeans.