Germany’s China challenge: politicians know it’s important but voters don’t seem to care

Angela Merkel’s retirement may see a change in Berlin’s approach to one of the country’s key economic partners

Some observers believe that the next chancellor will have to explain why the public needs to think more about the country’s relationship with Beijing

5-MIN READ5-MIN

99+

Chancellor Angela Merkel will step down after the election. Photo: Reuters

Published: 10:00pm, 4 Sep 2021Updated: 4:42am, 10 Sep 2021

It’s a drizzly afternoon in late August, and a group of political hopefuls are rolling giant dice across a life-size board game just off Koenig-Heinrich-Platz, the main square in the German city of Duisburg.

As the die is cast, they move counters across the board, with each square hosting a topic on which they must answer a question from one of the few dozen citizens gathered to watch.

Each candidate hopes to be elected in a month’s time to represent the old industrial city’s north side at the national parliament, the Bundestag.

As the game unfolds, they take turns to answer questions on education, housing, jobs, democracy, business, social issues, trade unions, the environment and mobility.

Electoral candidates for the German parliament representing Duisburg North play a board game where they answer voters’ questions on a range of issues, in the rust belt city’s main square on August 26. Photo: Finbarr Bermingham

Notably absent from the board are any issues related to foreign policy – although, on a bonus round, one punter lobs a question about the Afghanistan crisis, details of which have been splashed across the front page of every major German newspaper throughout this penultimate week of summer. The topic of China does not come up at all.

Geopolitical observers have for months, if not years, earmarked this September’s election as a turning point in German-China relations. Long-serving Angela Merkel is not running for re-election as chancellor, and the expectation is that her China policy of “Wandel durch Handel” – “change through trade”, will not outlast her reign.