The way is clear for the controversial Chinese participation in a container terminal in the port of Hamburg. As the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” reports, the six ministries that had previously rejected the deal have given up their resistance. Experts warn of the deal.
The federal government will decide on a so-called partial refusal: The Chinese state shipping company Cosco will not be able to take over 35 percent of the Tollerort terminal as planned, but only 24.9 percent. As a minority shareholder, the group would then not be able to exert any formal influence on the management.
The compromise was reached, although lawyers from the Ministry of Economy warned of the consequences. “Bild” reports, citing a secret risk analysis from Habeck, that experts have serious doubts about the deal: A deal would have an “increased strategic Chinese influence on the German and European transport infrastructure” as well as an “adverse influence on the resilience of supply chains and security of supply”
It is also particularly clear that a partial acquisition by the Chinese group would be a “probable impairment of public order and security”. Because elements of the European transport infrastructure influenced by China would not be available, or at least not fully available, in the event of a conflict or crisis. The Chinese government could use this as a means of exerting pressure to achieve political goals.
The conclusion: “The acquisition should therefore be prohibited” in order to avoid economic dependence on China.
It was unclear whether the decision would be made in the cabinet this Wednesday or by circulation. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) is considered a supporter of the deal, Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (both Greens) had positioned themselves against it. As the SZ further reports, only the Federal Foreign Office had recently campaigned for a complete ban on the deal. There, among other things, a negative signal effect was feared if the federal government, despite Europe-wide concerns, does not prevent the entry of the Chinese group.
“The Port of Hamburg is not just any port, but one of the key ports not only for us as an export nation, but for Europe as a whole,” said Baerbock in mid-October. With every investment in German critical infrastructure, the question must be asked “what that could mean at the moment when China would oppose us as a democracy and a community of values”. You can experience in other countries “what it means when China owns critical infrastructure or even only partially owns it – be it airports, railway networks, power grids”.
On Monday, the federal government admitted that the planned entry met with a lack of understanding from German alliance partners such as the USA, France and the Netherlands. The criticism leveled at the plans by Cosco and HHLA “should not simply be brushed aside,” said government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit. The project will be examined accordingly. However, two dozen other European ports are wholly or partly owned by Chinese investors, such as in Rotterdam or Piraeus. In Hamburg, on the other hand, it’s just a minority stake in one of several terminals.
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