Germany takes aim at ‘systemic rival’ China in long-awaited, first-ever national security strategy

Berlin uses tougher language on Beijing than it has in the past, naming and alluding to threat posed, a week before EU releases own strategy statement

Policy accuses China of trying to ‘reshape the existing rules-based international order’ and ‘increasingly aggressively claiming regional supremacy’

Reading Time:3 minutes

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock gestures during a press conference on the German national security strategy in Berlin on Wednesday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 2:20am, 15 Jun 2023Updated: 12:05am, 16 Jun 2023

Germany unveiled its first-ever national security strategy on Wednesday, accusing China of “repeatedly acting in contradiction to our interests and values”.

Calling China a “systemic rival”, Berlin in its long-awaited policy document used tougher language towards Beijing than it has in the past, naming and alluding to the threat posed by the world’s second-largest economy.

Its release comes ahead of a new China-specific strategy that is expected to be issued in July and sets a potentially thorny stage for government-to-government consultations between Berlin and Beijing next week.

“China is trying in various ways to reshape the existing rules-based international order, is increasingly aggressively claiming regional supremacy,” according to the document, which runs to 75 pages and contains six direct references to China.

“Regional stability and international security are increasingly put under pressure, human rights are disregarded. China is deliberately using its economic power to achieve political goals,” it added.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x