Global Times recently reported that, in the name of national security, the German government prohibited the Chinese acquisition of a German satellite technology company IMST. IMST developed the critical components of Germany’s TerraSAR-X observation satellite. The acquisition would have resulted in intellectual property loss, which would have benefited the Chinese military. The German government also explained that this acquisition would also damage Germany’s “technological sovereignty” in the future mobile wireless communications field. IMST’s achievements benefited from government public funding. It is problematic to sell China a company funded by tax payer money. However, IMST plans to take this matter to court. The company is strongly against classifying IMST as a military supplier. IMST sold 22 percent of its voting rights to China in 2018. However, starting in 2018, the German government tightened the bar for government intervention from 25 percent to 10 percent of a company’s stake.
Source: Global Times, December 5, 2020
https://world.huanqiu.com/article/40yJwj40bUN