Saxony is a traditional hub for semiconductor production going back to the East German era. But officials warn that the AfD’s rapid rise could throw a spanner in the works for expanding the regional labour force through immigration.
Despite a wish by MEPs to pursue a bilateral deal with Taiwan business groups, the EU Commission warned that any embrace of Taipei could jeopardise already tense relations with China.
Apart from Moscow’s war in Ukraine, Beijing’s increasingly muscular position on its claim to Taiwan and the South China Sea is bringing the G7 considerable anxiety.
Emmanuel Macron’s claim that Europe should take a balanced position between Beijing and Washington is seen as nonsense and dangerous by the German political class.
Given the steps taken by the U.S. and its allies in ‘China-proofing’ the Asian-Pacific region, a scenario of open conflict with the regional behemoth edges ever closer.
Did Macron speak in the name of Europe, or in the name of France? The key to Emmanuel Macron’s untimely declaration is perhaps to be found in his desire to conform to French opinion, still driven by an old Gaullist reflex.
U.S. recognition, and its avowed protection, of Taiwan’s sovereignty is deemed provocative by Beijing, which one day seeks to incorporate the island—whether peaceably or by force.
