Vor einiger Zeit haben zwei deutsche Europa-Abgeordneten, Dr. Maximilian KRAH (AfD) und Gunnar BECK (AfD), gemeinsam eine schriftliche Anfrage zum Magnitski-Act an die Europäischen Kommission gestellt.
Betrifft: Ist dem Präsidenten der Hintergrund des Magnitski-Gesetzes bekannt?
In ihrer Rede zur Lage der Union äußerte Ursula von der Leyen ihren Wunsch nach einem sogenannten europäischen Magnitski-Rechtsakt.
Magnitski war Buchhalter und Steuerberater bei der Anwaltskanzlei „Firestone Duncan“, zu deren Kunden auch der „Hermitage Fund“ gehörte, ein Fonds unter der Leitung von William (Bill) Browder.
Bill Browder hat Magnitski zu einem Hinweisgeber und Kämpfer gegen Korruption verklärt und will damit seine eigene frühere Geschäftstätigkeit in Russland in einem anderen Licht erscheinen lassen. Gegen Magnitski und Browder wurde wegen derselben Fälle von Steuerhinterziehung ermittelt und strafrechtlich vorgegangen.
Entgegen den Behauptungen von Bill Browder waren weder er noch Magnitski in Russland Gegenstand von Ermittlungen und strafrechtlicher Verfolgung aus rein politischen Gründen. Der Europäische Gerichtshof für Menschenrechte hat keine Beweise für diese Behauptungen gefunden. In seinem Urteil vom 27. August 2019 kommt das Gericht zu dem Schluss, dass die Festnahme des ersten Klägers [Magnitski] nicht willkürlich war, sondern auf dem Verdacht beruhte, dass er eine Straftat begangen hat.
Als die russischen Behörden 2004 Ermittlungen wegen Steuerhinterziehung gegen Bill Browder einleiteten, war er zudem ein lautstarker Unterstützer von Wladimir Putin.
1. Ist dem Präsidenten der Hintergrund des Magnitski-Gesetzes bekannt?
2. Kann die Kommission die Argumente des Filmemachers Andrei Nekrassow entkräften, die er in seinem offenen Brief an die Kommissionspräsidentin vorgebracht hat?
The Fourth Session of the Thirteenth Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and the Fourth Session of the Thirteenth National People’s Congress closed on the afternoon of March 10th and 11th respectively.
Suggestions proposed during the two sessions often represent the developing trend and target of China in the following years. Among these proposals, artificial intelligence was mentioned many times and became one of the focuses at the two sessions. These proposals and suggestions on artificial intelligence involve various aspects including transportation, education, medical care, elderly care, cybersecurity, etc.
Accelerate the autonomous driving and intelligent transportation Shen Nanpeng, founder and managing partner of Sequoia Capital, suggested developing the application of artificial intelligence in road traffic, controlling the demand of private car traffic for deep emission reduction and combining the internet of vehicles and big data.
Robin Li Yanhong, CEO of Baidu, proposed to vigorously develop low-carbon transportation, use artificial intelligence, 5G and other new technologies to accelerate the popularization of autonomous driving commercial and intelligent transportation, which can effectively alleviate traffic congestion, make common people’s travel greener and more convenient, and achieve the coordination of carbon peak and high-quality economic development.
Establish a data governance committee to strengthen the data security
Zhang Jindong, the founder of Suning, suggested strengthening the top-level design, establishing a data governance committee as the leading organization for data resource sharing management, and establishing a national data-sharing platform. Also, he encouraged to establish a general education for the socialization and sharing of public data, so that students can establish an understanding of the foundation, management, application, and protection of big data, cultivate a sense of advancement, and further build big data knowledge. The goal is to realize the extensive training of more high-level talents.
Use AI to promote the popularization of the language study
Mandarin is the national common language promoted among all regions and ethnic groups in China. However, according to China’s Ministry of Education, as of September 2020, the nationwide penetration rate of Mandarin is 80.72%, and the penetration rate of Mandarin in relatively poor areas is only 61.56%.
Liu Qingfeng, chairman of iFLYTEK, suggested relying on AI and internet technology to build a national common language teaching platform and develop a learning model that combines offline teaching and online learning to help people of all ethnic groups quickly improve the application level of the national common spoken and written language.
The lack of English teachers is also a severe problem faced by many Chinese rural schools. Yu Minhong, chairman of the New Oriental Education & Technology Group, proposed to use artificial intelligence technology to integrate high-quality English teaching resources at home and abroad, eliminate the difference between regional teaching resources and teaching levels, strengthen the interactive experience of English classrooms, and improve the quality and efficiency of English learning for rural children.
Promote the adaptation of technology to the older The size of the elderly population and internet access in China is increasing. According to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, China’s elderly population will grow rapidly at a rate of over 10 million per year. By 2025, the population of 60-year-old and over may exceed 300 million. At the same time, with the increasing penetration of the internet and smart technologies in life, the elderly are increasingly facing the difficulties and challenges brought by these emerging technologies.
Lei Jun, CEO of Xiaomi Group, recommended promoting the integration of digital services for the elderly into the national information infrastructure construction as soon as possible, guiding the establishment of a standard system for smart technology to adapt to aging, strengthening the linkage between smart home data and smart community data for the elderly, making full use of artificial intelligence IoT technology to respond needs quickly, proactively and timely, and improving the overall planning and management capabilities of community assistance services for the elderly.
Accelerate the application of AI in medical care
Facing the structural problems of the relative lack of high-quality medical resources and insufficient primary medical service capabilities in China, Liu Qingfeng suggested increasing research on key technologies of artificial intelligence in the medical field and strengthening the cultivation of artificial intelligence talents in medical services. In the prevention and control of infectious diseases and major diseases, he suggested accelerating the construction and application promotion of the early monitoring and early warning platform for infectious diseases based on artificial intelligence and improving the ability of doctors in primary medical and health institutions to identify, diagnose, and directly report infectious diseases and major diseases, which effectively expands infectious diseases and diseases.
Artificial intelligence is undoubtedly no longer just a topic of concern to the technology circle, it is becoming an indispensable part of our lives with greater potential and possibilities in all aspects of society in the future.
Surely, using technology to benefit society will gradually come into reality, but the order of the entrance will decide the degree of social development. These proposals can be very fast from submission to implementation in China, and may still require a long process in the world. When China has begun the rapid development of artificial intelligence technology, will western society still hesitate to enter the AI era?
(Source: Sina, VentureBeat, China Daily, Cyberspace Administration of China)
Compliance with certain social and ecological standards is an important task of the social market economy. In the opinion of German ordoliberal economist Walter Eucken (1952), in the domestic area it is part of the regulating role of national regulation (German: Ordnungsrecht).[1] But at the global level, this “public good” can best be supplied through international relations. Starting here protects human and labour rights and the environment more than a national or pan-regional (EU) approach.
The globalization of German and European production processes under a capitalist system has led to an immense increase in prosperity in the emerging and developing countries, because the Western companies there create relatively better-paid jobs and higher environmental standards than there would be without their commitment. Currently, around a quarter of German goods imports are from developing and emerging countries with an annual per capita income of less than USD 12,500. The final demand in Germany secures a value added in the non-OECD countries with a total value of USD 176 billion, the final demand of the EU countries stands for a total value added of USD 926 billion, which is created in these countries.[2]
The German federal government[3] and the European Commission[4] are now planning to introduce supply chain laws, according to which German and European companies can be held accountable, made liable and fined if they disregard or contribute to the disregard of children’s, human and labour rights and environmental standards by their foreign suppliers within their value chains.
However, in the opinion of leading economic research institutes (e.g. the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, the IW Cologne) and business associations (e.g. BDI, BDA, DIHK)[5] this approach has considerable disadvantages and will actually have the opposite effect. Supply chain legislation at the national and EU level:
is partially unnecessary, as many German companies have already voluntarily implement social and ecological due diligence obligations in their corporate policy, e.g. ILO conventions, ISO standards, OECD guidelines,[6] and thus contribute to local sustainability in the supplier countries;[7]
is practically unfeasible as modern international supply chains are extremely complex;[8]
will burden German companies with even more bureaucratic requirements;[9]
will increase the cost of intermediate services and thus the end products of German companies;
will result in the affected German companies withdrawing from the emerging and developing countries;
and thus not only further reduce the international competitiveness of German companies, but also further reduce prosperity in Germany;[10]
will lead to companies from other parts of the world where human and labour rights and environmental protection are of much less importance, e.g. China, taking over the market shares that have been freed up by withdrawn German companies;
will push workers (including children) in the supplier countries into even worse working conditions in the informal economic sector that do not exist within the framework of international supply chains, e.g., mining and prostitution;[11]
will reduce the welfare growth achieved thanks to German value chains in many emerging and developing countries, e.g. up to 1 percent of GDP in Cambodia, Vietnam and Malaysia.[12]
The problem is not that German companies supposedly exploit the loopholes in the law and jurisdiction in the supplier countries, but the problem is the loopholes themselves. The reason being that many emerging and developing countries have formally ratified protective conventions in child, labour, human and environmental law, but have not yet implemented them.
Therefore, German companies should not bear the burden of inadequate social and environmental policies in these countries. As with climate policy, this is a global problem that only a global solution can do justice to.
The German government and the European Commission should therefore reject the planned supply chain law and EU legislation on corporate accountability. Instead, they should, at a maximally multilateral level, get the governments of the supplier countries to de facto implement internationally recognized social and ecological standards.[13]
This could be achieved through the following means:
Signalling a potential reduction in development aid. In 2019, Germany was in 4th place in terms of official development aid (ODA) expenditure in relation to GDP: 0.6 percent or USD 25 billion.[14]
Signalling potential punitive trade measures permitted under Article XX GATT if they prove necessary to protect the rights of people and nature.
Signalling potential sanctions, e.g., the negative list approach based on the US model, which prohibits foreign companies that have been found to have committed misconduct from participating in German and European value chains. As with a cascade principle, one could transfer the inspection obligations for the domestic company to foreign suppliers.
Obliging foreign trade partners to ratify and implement social and ecological standards, e.g. the ILO conventions, could become an important part of new trade agreements between the EU and third parties. However, their stringency would have to be decided individually and jointly in each case, depending on each partner country’s current development level (“right to regulate”).[15]
Autor: Yuri Kofner, junior economist, MIWI – Institute for Market Integration and Economic Policy. Munich, 12 March 2021.
Notes
[1] Eucken, W. (1952). Grundsätze der Wirtschaftspolitik. Freiburg.
[6] OECD (2019). OECD-Leitfaden für die Erfüllung der Sorgfaltspflicht zur Förderung verantwortungsvoller Lieferketten für Minerale aus Konflikt- und Hochrisikogebieten. URL: https://doi.org/10.1787/3d21faa0-de
Wie aus einem Tweet des dänischen Gesundheitsministers Magnus Heunicke vom 11. März 2021 hervorgeht, die dänischen Behörden hatten die Impfungen mit Astrazeneca offenbar “aus Sicherheitsgründen” vorübergehend eingestellt. In manchen Vorfällen seien tödliche Blutgerinnsel durch das Vakzin des britisch-schwedischen Pharmaunternehmens verursacht worden.
Aus Medienberichten versteht man darunter die medezischen Probleme der Impfstoffe und auch die Lieferschwierigkeiten des Pharmaunternehmens. Aber es hätte mit den politischen Konsequezen zu tun, dass USA keine Impfstoffe an Drittländer exportieren wollen, bevor alle Amerikaner erfolgreich geimpft werden. Dies wird schon andere Auseinandersetzungen zwischen USA und EU verursachen.
“Vaccine diplomacy” has become a frequent word asked at the two sessions of China. The outside world wants to know whether China uses the COVID-19 vaccine export to expand its geopolitical influence. If the skeptic can put aside conspiracism and observe China’s vaccine activities from a neutral perspective and calmly, it is not difficult to find the answer.
China’s export of vaccines overseas should be viewed in a dual context. First, the epidemic in China was controlled earlier and better. Although the string of epidemic prevention cannot be slackened, the sense of security and the usual mode in Chinese society have basically returned. Domestic vaccination has been carried out with a good organization. According to WHO’s advice, after the front-line population gets vaccinated, other people will be vaccinated based on their wishes. The second is that the epidemic is still in the pandemic stage on a global scale. Vaccines are in short supply. The rich countries are the first to occupy the vaccines, but the developing countries face a huge shortage of vaccines. So at this moment, China can and would like to donate the temporarily extra vaccines to other countries who need vaccines urgently.
From a practical perspective, unless all countries are safe, no country is truly safe. The simplest starting point for WHO to encourage relatively stronger countries to promote vaccine assistance or export is to hope that the vaccine’s global barrier function will be effective as soon as possible, especially to improve the accessibility and affordability of vaccines in developing countries, so as to realize universal security.
China has the ability and conditions to achieve so. China’s vaccine research and development meet the requirements in safety, transportation and storage convenience, and strong production capacity. It can not only meet domestic demand but also has spare capacity to support others. The Associated Press reported that China is one of the few countries that can produce vaccines on a large scale, and Chinese vaccines may be the only available and affordable solution in some countries. China is still a developing country, but it decides to help others. Meanwhile, some developed countries like the U.S. won’t give a hand to others shortly even if they can, and criticize the developing countries for insufficient control of the epidemic.
Looking at China’s international cooperation in the fight against the epidemic, it has ranged from “not letting a country in need be left behind, nor letting anyone waiting for a vaccine be forgotten” to “in the face of the epidemic, nothing is more important than the safety and health of people’s lives;” from promoting vaccines to become an international public product to building a community of human health and building a community of shared future for mankind. All of China’s actions demonstrate its respect and protection of the living rights of human beings regardless of race. When the U.S. refuses to achieve its agreement with other countries to support and aid the supply of the vaccines, China has already tried to help every living in Africa, South America, Southeast Asia, small European countries, and other lands.
Active efforts in the fair distribution of vaccines are a solid step for China to fulfill its commitments and take responsibility. Such a commitment can be traced back to the Chinese people’s worldview for thousands of years that if you are poor, you need to take care of yourself, and if you are good, you should contribute to the world. China has successfully improved its economic situation and social conditions, which gives the country the ability to help the outside world.
At present, there are many vaccines on the market around the world, and each country decides to choose applicable vaccines. Vaccine contracts are proceeded voluntarily rather than forcibly with “additional conditions” and “request for returns”. For example, when the Philippines received the Chinese vaccine, President Duterte publicly stated that “China has provided us with everything, but has never actually asked us for anything.” The “light of hope”, “scientific choice” and “delivery in time” reveal the real reasons why countries choose Chinese vaccines. Whether it is a Chinese vaccine or a foreign vaccine, as long as it is safe and reliable, it is a good vaccine. —— The words of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi demonstrate China’s openness and magnanimity on the vaccine issue.
In the 21st century, humans have faced many new and recurring infectious disease crises, including coronavirus, Ebola, A(H1N1), and atypical pneumonia, all of which constitute a major challenge to global public health governance. Facing the global ravages of COVID-19, countries in the world should unite and cooperate to advance global health governance. Specifically in four aspects: first, abandon power politics and cold war thinking, and work together to provide more and better public products to the vast number of developing countries; second, go beyond domestic and regional politics to promote the construction of a health governance system; the third is to restrain the “private interests” of enterprises, encourage social responsibility, and jointly provide vaccines and anti-epidemic products for developing countries; the fourth is to uphold the spirit of openness and tolerance, and provide a good cultural and public opinion environment for responding to the epidemic. From an objective point of view, China’s efforts to promote vaccines as a global public product have indeed won the praise and trust of the recipient countries. It is China’s and should be many countries’ most urgent wish to hope that the global collective immunization will be realized as soon as possible and the world will return to peace as soon as possible. Maintaining global health governance is unavoidable responsibility to every force, some certain forces may try to ignore it, but China won’t.
Obwohl die Welt durch die Corona-Pandemie in der Rezession steckt, erlebt China einen unerwarteten Boom seines Außenhandels. Wie profitiert die deutsche Wirtschaft davon?
Ungeachtet der globalen Corona-Krise zeigt Chinas Wirtschaft ungewöhnlich starkes Wachstum. Die chinesischen Exporte machten in den ersten beiden Monaten des Jahres in Dollar berechnet einen Sprung um Plus 60,6 Prozent im Vorjahresvergleich, wie die Zollverwaltung am Sonntag in Peking berichtete. Die Einfuhren der zweitgrößten Volkswirtschaft legten ebenfalls stark um 22,2 Prozent zu. Damit kletterte der Außenhandel im Jahresvergleich um 41,2 Prozent und übertraf die Erwartungen von Experten.
Als eine Ursache für die ungewöhnlich starken Zuwächse sahen Ökonomen die niedrige Vergleichsbasis zu Beginn des Vorjahres, als China nach dem Ausbruch des Coronavirus in der zentralchinesischen Metropole Wuhan scharfe Kontrollmaßnahmen ergriffen und Fabriken geschlossen hatte. Der Außenhandel entwickelte sich aber schon seit der zweiten Jahreshälfte 2020 wieder kräftig und trägt stärker als erwartet zur Erholung der chinesischen Wirtschaft bei.
Während in der Corona-Krise die Geschäfte Deutschlands mit anderen Ländern schlecht laufen, profitiert die deutsche Wirtschaft von dem robusten Wachstum seines wichtigsten Handelspartners. Deutsche Exporteure konnten nach den chinesischen Berechnungen in Dollar in den beiden Monaten um 31,1 Prozent mehr Güter nach China liefern. Die chinesischen Ausfuhren nach Deutschland stiegen demnach aber auch um 71,2 Prozent. Ähnlich legten die chinesischen Exporte nach Europa um 62,6 Prozent zu, während die Importe um 32,5 Prozent stiegen.
Ein Container mit dem Corona-Impfstoff des chinesischen Biotechunternehmens „Sinovac“ wird hinter Mitarbeitern des Internationalen Flughafen Hongkong über ein Terminal transportiert. „Sinova“ lieferte 1 Million Dosen seines Corona-Impfstoffs nach Hongkong.
Wegen der Schwankungen durch das chinesische Neujahrsfest, das immer unterschiedlich auf Januar oder Februar fällt, fasst China die Daten für die beiden Monate zusammen. In diesem Jahr arbeiteten viele Unternehmen aber auch über die Neujahrsferien. Die Regierung hatte aus Angst vor einer neuen Ausbreitung des Coronavirus die Arbeiter aufgefordert, nicht wie üblich in ihre Heimat zu reisen. So konnten viele Exportaufträge auch früher erfüllt werden.
Mit den Zuwächsen kletterte Chinas Handelsüberschuss mit der Welt unerwartet stark auf 103 Milliarden Dollar. Experten hatten eigentlich einen Rückgang von 78 Milliarden Dollar im Dezember erwartet. Auch ohne niedrige Vergleichsbasis im Vorjahr waren die Ausfuhren im Dezember schon um 18,1 Prozent gestiegen, während die Importe um 6,5 Prozent zugelegt hatten. Auf Jahressicht zeigte sich 2020 auch schon Erholung: Die Ausfuhren hatten im Gesamtjahr um 3,6 Prozent zugelegt. Die Einfuhren gingen leicht um 1,1 Prozent zurück.
MP Li Keqiang
Trotz der Strafzölle im Zuge der Handelskrieges der Vereinigten Staaten mit China legten Chinas Exporte in die größte Volkswirtschaft in den beiden Monaten sogar um 87,3 Prozent zu. Die Einfuhren aus den Vereinigten Staaten kletterten ähnlich stark um 66,4 Prozent. Dennoch erhöhte sich der Handelsüberschuss Chinas allein mit den Vereinigten Staaten auf 51 Milliarden Dollar, wie der Zoll berichtete.
Der Exportboom unterstützt den wirtschaftlichen Aufschwung in China stärker als Experten erwartet hatten. Nach einem Wachstum von 2,3 Prozent im vergangenen Jahr soll Chinas Wirtschaft nach den Zielen, die Regierungschef Li Keqiang am Freitag auf der Tagung des Volkskongresses in Peking vorgelegt hatte, in diesem Jahr um „mehr als sechs Prozent“ wachsen. Das Ziel gilt allerdings als vorsichtig. So rechnet der Währungsfonds (IWF) 2021 sogar mit 8,1 Prozent Wachstum in China.
Im vergangenen Corona-Jahr war China die einzige große Volkswirtschaft, die Wachstum verzeichnet hat. China hat das Virus mit strengen Maßnahmen wie Ausgangssperren und Massentests für Millionen sowie Kontaktverfolgung, Quarantäne und außergewöhnlich strikten Einreisebeschränkungen weitgehend unter Kontrolle bekommen. So konnten sich der Alltag und die Wirtschaft schon seit dem vergangenen Sommer weitgehend normalisieren.
Seither hat China nur noch wenige lokal begrenzte Ausbrüche erlebt, die sofort mit strikten Kontrollmaßnahmen eingedämmt wurden. Die chinesische Regierung verfolgt eine „Null-Covid-Strategie“. Seit Wochen wurden auch fast nur noch importierte Infektionen registriert, die wegen der zwangsweisen Quarantäne für alle Einreisenden für eine Dauer von zwei bis drei Wochen sofort isoliert werden konnten.
China kooperiert auch mit Russland in der Außenpolitik gegenüber den Vereinigten Staaten, sagte Zhang Hanhui, Botschafter in Russland. US-Präsident Joe Biden seinerseits hat eine harte Haltung gegenüber Peking und Moskau eingenommen und versucht, die Beziehungen zu Washingtons Verbündeten zu stärken.
China wolle regelmäßige Gespräche mit Russland über seine US-Politik führen, sagte der chinesische Diplomat. Zhang sieht in der chinesisch-russischen Verteidigungskooperation auch eine “wichtige Säule und Sicherheitsmaßnahme zur Aufrechterhaltung des strategischen Gleichgewichts” der gegenseitigen Beziehungen. “Vor fünfzig Jahren haben die Vereinigten Staaten und China in den Beziehungen zwischen den beiden Ländern jahrzehntelang eine Tür geöffnet. Jetzt, fünfzig Jahre später, sollten die Vereinigten Staaten die Fehler korrigieren, die sie gemacht haben, und einen positiveren und konstruktiveren Ansatz gegenüber China verfolgen”, sagte Zhang der Agentur Interfax. “China und Russland haben gemeinsame Interessen und eine besondere Verantwortung, wenn es darum geht, Frieden und Stabilität in der Welt zu erhalten und die globale Entwicklung und den Wohlstand zu fördern”, schlug Zhang vor. Gute Beziehungen zwischen den Ländern werden daher erhebliche Auswirkungen auf die erneuerte internationale Ordnung haben.
Pekings Beziehungen zu Washington haben sich dagegen mit dem neuen Regime nicht verbessert. Am Dienstag gab die Pressesprecherin des Weißen Hauses, Jen Psaki, bekannt, dass Präsident Biden am Freitag ein Gespräch mit den Staats- und Regierungschefs Australiens, Indiens und Japans führen will (QUAD). Es wird geschätzt, dass die Vereinigten Staaten jetzt beginnen, eine Allianz mit China als Hauptziel zu bilden.
US-Außenminister Antony Blinken und Verteidigungsminister Lloyd Austin werden nächste Woche zu einem Besuch nach Japan und Südkorea reisen. Dies ist eindeutig eine Absicht, den “indopasifischen Trend” fortzusetzen, der unter Obama begann. Gleichzeitig ist der Besuch die erste internationale Geschäftsreise von Biden.
In den letzten Jahren sind sich China und Russland sehr nahe gekommen. Außen- und sicherheitspolitische Forscher haben darüber spekuliert, ob die Länder ein Militärisches Bündnis gegen Bedrohungen von außen bilden werden. Sie sagen, dass es noch keine Notwendigkeit für eine solche Situation gibt, aber laut dem chinesischen Außenminister Wang Yi täten die Länder gut daran, zusammenzuarbeiten, um “Farbrevolutionen zu verhindern”.
Zhang sagte der Nachrichtenagentur Interfax, die Länder würden auch bei der Militärtechnologie “auf hohem Niveau” zusammenarbeiten. Dies spiegele eine strategische Partnerschaft zwischen den beiden Ländern wider, so der Botschafter. Im Westen gibt es Bedenken hinsichtlich dieser neuen “autoritären Achse”.
Zhang erinnerte auch daran, dass Moskau und Peking gute Fortschritte in den letzten Jahren bei Handel, Impfstoffentwicklung und sogar Weltraumforschung gemacht haben: Länder planen die Einrichtung einer gemeinsamen Raumstation für die Mondforschung.
Nach einigen Tagen bricht nun wieder ein anderer Skandal der taiwanesischen Agrarprodukte aus. Diesmal geht es aber nicht mehr um Ananas, sondern um Bananen.
Am 13. März 2021 gab die japanische Nishimoto Trading Company (Wismettac) bekannt, die chemischen Stoffe Beacamin/ Pyraclostrobin (Fungizid) auf Bananen, die aus der chinesischen Taiwanprovinz nach Japan exportiert sind, seien sechsmal höher als der Standard (0.12ppm versus 0.02ppm) festgestellt worden. Wismettac musste daher den Rückruf sofort ankündigen. Momentan wurden 750 Packungen Bananen vernichtet. Der Importeuer wird an den kommenden Tagen die anderen Bananen testen, um sicherzustellen, ob es noch weitere Probleme gibt.
Laut Statistiken des taiwanesischen Landwirtschaftsrates wurden im Jahr 2020 circa 3.334 Tonnen Bananen nach Japan beliefert, mit einem Wert von circa 5,58 Millionen US-Dollars. Seit einiger Zeit werden immer mehr Berichterstattungen über die Qualitätsprobleme der taiwanesischen Agrarprodukte in Asien. Man weiß nicht, ob die europäeischen Importeur auch solche Agrarprodukte aus chinesischer Taiwan ständig prüfen.
“The West should therefore pay close attention to the 14th Five-Year Plan and China’s long-term objectives for 2035 because it can learn a lesson.”
Editor’s Note: China has unveiled the draft outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) for national economic and social development and the long-range objectives through the year 2035 recently. What is the significance of the plan to China’s future? What are its implications to the world? In the Insight Talk, Stephan Ossenkoppgives his opinions on these topics. Ossenkopp is a web-journalist and a researcher at Schiller Institute in Germany. His research focuses on culture and education. The video reflects the interviewee’s opinions, and not necessarily the views of China Focus.
China Focus: What is the significance of 14th Five-Year Plan from your perspective?
Stephan Ossenkopp: Europe would be in much worse shape without China. China has become Europe’s largest trading partner, and European companies have benefitted from China’s swift economic recovery, made possible by the great struggle of the Chinese people against the Covid-19. The West should therefore pay close attention to the 14th Five-Year Plan and China’s long-term objectives for 2035, because it can learn a lesson.
The fundamental principle of the new Five-Year Plan is this, “Development is the foundation and key to solving all of China’s problems.” “Making the real economy the focal point of economic development” will turn China into a manufacturing powerhouse, with a more robust industrial and agricultural base, with a high-standard market system, and an increasingly healthy and well-educated population.
New economic infrastructure will better integrate urban and rural areas, create jobs, raise the income of lower income brackets of society, consolidate poverty alleviation, offer more affordable housing. Europe should unquestionable welcome such an action plan which aims to make the Chinese people more prosperous in all respects.
China Focus: Apart from economy, what areas will the five-year plan influence profoundly?
Stephan Ossenkopp: Many experts around the world will be discussing the economic significance of the Five-Year Plan rightly so. But let me talk about an aspect which is my area of expertise: education and culture. A large part of the new plan deals with the revitalization of Chinese culture, and the promotion of high-quality literary and artistic works, to what I quote “reflect the new atmosphere of the era and celebrate the new creativity of the people.” If a 5000-year-old civilization such as the Chinese is striving to reach new heights in expressing its outstanding culture and ingenuity, the world should listen up.
China will foster cultural exchanges with the world and strengthen a multilevel dialogue of civilizations. The vision of the Chinese government includes the construction of a high-quality education system, which aims to cultivate the people’s character and serve as a precious public good. Chinese successes in education have already won top places in international rankings. As the quality of higher education increases, even further, the cultivation of talents in science, engineering agricultural and medical professions will reach a new peak.
China Focus: Some western political elites view China as a threat, which has affected the bilateral relations with China. What do you think of this trend?
Stephan Ossenkopp: Many leaders in the West are making a fundamental mistake by repeating sensationalist press reports, which accuse China of wanting to become a superpower, and to take over the place of a declining United States. But nothing can be further from the truth. It speaks volumes about the so-called elite educational systems of the West, that almost all they can produce is a league of bureaucrats who believe the world ought to be run by them, the Western liberal establishment, alone.
China Focus: In the global fight against COVID-19, Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for building a community of common health for mankind. What do you think of this proposal?
Stephan Ossenkopp: The recent high-level dialogue, which concluded negotiations on the China-Europe Investment Agreement is definitely a positive sign. But European programs such as the “Green Deal” and the so-called “Taxonomy Plan” threaten to destroy what is left of the ailing real economy in Europe. Farms are currently ruined by unfair price structures and regulations, which bring profits only to international cartels and profit-oriented financial firms. Whereas China is vigorously expanding its public health infrastructure and is building a Community of Common Health for Mankind, the European and American Leaders have bungled almost all aspects of the fight against Covid-19 pandemic.
This comes at a sad and heavy death toll and a high economic price tag. It would do Western politicians, economists, scholars and citizens alike good to study the 14th Five-Year Plan, and to get reminded what statecraft, the economy, and culture is all about: serving the common good of the citizens. Have they done that? Well, mostly not, But better late than never.
Currently, countries are stepping up vaccine production or procurement. The Chinese government promised to work with other countries to actively promote vaccine research and production and make positive contributions to the realization of the availability and affordability of vaccines in the world, especially in developing countries.
How has the world responded to China’s commitments, especially China’s vaccine assistance and cooperation? Why is it difficult for China’s vaccines to “go global” and participate in global health governance?
Some people believe that China’s research methods for inactivated vaccines are good, but they don’t trust China’s production technology. Several reports question the incomplete data of China’s vaccine experiments causing the inability to assess safety and even make prejudice and rumors.
In response to the media questioning the safety and effectiveness of Chinese vaccines, Chinese vaccine research and development companies and cooperative institutions in different countries have successively released data. SINOVAC vaccine products are published in the international authoritative medical journal “The Lancet” with the conclusion that “more than 90% of vaccinators can produce virus antibodies in their bodies.” The Argentine research institute announced on February 9th that the results of the interim analysis of the Phase III clinical trial of the CanSinoBIO vaccine in China showed that 28 days after a single injection of the vaccine, the vaccine’s protective efficacy against severe new coronary pneumonia was 100%, and the overall protective efficacy was 74.8% without any serious adverse reactions related to the vaccine. Jamie Triccas, professor of Medical Microbiology of the University of Sydney, said that “Chinese vaccine research is doing very well, and I will not worry about the results of clinical trials in China.”
With the success of China’s COVID-19 research and the rapid promotion of international applications, some western media have promoted China and the west to engage in a “vaccine race” and engage in “vaccine diplomacy” in order to “expand geopolitical influence.”
At the end of last year, the British Financial Times labeled China as “vaccine diplomacy” and quoted an expert from an American think tank who holds a strong stance on China, exaggerating the “obvious risk” of using Chinese vaccine because it is “political.”
China did this because China has become a world power, and China has been helping and supporting third world countries from the past to the present. It is very superficial for Western media to politicize China’s traditional practices. Concerning the so-called “vaccine diplomacy” in China, the buyers and users of Chinese vaccines are the most qualified to express related opinions. The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, Indonesia, Brazil, and other countries have approved the use of the Chinese vaccine. Leaders of many countries have publicly vaccinated the Chinese vaccine.
At this critical stage of the global fight against the COVID-19 epidemic, Europe shall abandon the stereotypes of the ideological differences between the west and the east, avoid delaying repeatedly the effective control of COVID-19 by politicizing the procedures and cooperation of vaccination, and evaluate the safety and effectiveness of Russian and Chinese vaccines from a scientific perspective as much as possible. It is also recommended that the European Union pilots the Russian and Chinese vaccines, promotes the international cooperation and aid of vaccines, and accelerates the mutual recognition of vaccination.
(Autor: Philippe Rioux of French Pasteur Institute)
