According to a German newspaper, Bild, an MP recently asked the federal government to stop providing low-interest loans to China immediately. He said, “It is pure insanity” for such a practice to continue. It supports China in surpassing Germany in the high-tech field.
The Chinese channel of the German international broadcaster Deutsche Welle quoted the Bild article titled, “Blanker Irrsinn (Pure Insanity).” In 2017 alone, Germany’s total development aid to China reached 628 million euros. In addition, since 2013, Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW, Credit Institute for Reconstruction) and Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (GED, German Investment Corporation) have provided 630 million euros in low-interest loans for vocational training in China’s machinery manufacturing, chemical, electronics and automotive industries.
Olaf in der Beek, a Member of Parliament at the German Bundestag and head of the Free Democratic Party’s (FDP) Development Committee, said, “If anyone still gives money to China and supports them in surpassing us in the high-tech field, it is pure insanity.” He pointed out, “No one really believes that the offensive campaign under the name ‘Made in China 2025’ is just a coincidence. China wants to surpass Made in Germany, and the German federal government has been using low-interest loans to finance China. This phenomenon must end.”
The article said, “Experts believe the reason that China strongly opposes the revision of its developing country status is that it does not want to give up the benefits of the status it has as a developing country. In fact, China does not need to rely on foreign assistance and China is already one of the world’s largest foreign aid providers.”
Source: Deutsche Welle, October 23, 2019
https://p.dw.com/p/3RmlH