The Federal Chancellery had advocated the participation of the Chinese state-owned company.
(Photo: imago images/BeckerBredel)
Berlin The German government’s agreement in the dispute over the participation of the Chinese state-owned company Cosco in the port of Hamburg was met with severe criticism in the traffic light. Politicians of the Greens and the FDP spoke of a “mistake” with regard to the compromise, according to which participation should be possible subject to conditions.
According to information from the Handelsblatt, Cosco should not be able to participate in a container terminal at the port with 35 percent, as planned, but with 24.9 percent. This is intended to prevent supervisory board members from having a right of veto and having a say in management. As can be heard from government circles, this partial ban could already be decided in the cabinet on Wednesday.
The Federal Chancellery had advocated the participation of the Chinese state-owned company, but the Houses of the Greens and Liberals in particular had opposed it, including the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Ministry of Justice and the Foreign Office.
Grüner von Notz: Compromise doesn’t solve the problem
The so-called compromise does not solve the “basic problem”, said Greens parliamentary group vice-president Konstantin von Notz to the Handelsblatt. A Chinese state-owned company, which has already bought into several other ports in Europe, is “blackmailing it to a certain extent” and is now giving in to this approach.
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In the Cosco case, Scholz was the driving force behind the enforcement of Chinese interests, said Reinhard Bütikofer, MEP for the Greens, the Handelsblatt.
The Green opposes the deal with China’s state-owned companies.
(Photo: IMAGO/Future Image)
The FDP also criticized the deal. “After the experiences with Russia, we have to prove that we are capable of learning,” said Johannes Vogel, first parliamentary director of the FDP parliamentary group. “But it’s not just about making the right decision with regard to Hamburg, we need a China stress test for our entire critical infrastructure.”
>> Read here: “No objective reasons”: This is how the Hamburg port operator defends the China deal
The FDP defense politician Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann spoke of a “serious mistake in times of great uncertainty”. The port participation was also a topic at a meeting of the economic committee on Tuesday.
In a letter to Robert Habeck, the Union accused his Ministry of Economics of not adequately addressing the questions of the MPs. This is “a disregard for the rights of Parliament,” says the letter that is available to the Handelsblatt.
“From our point of view, every security and economic policy risk for Germany must be ruled out,” demanded the economic policy spokeswoman for the Union faction, Julia Klöckner.
More: Important business or step into dependency? Why the Hamburg port deal is so delicate