2023.10.25
On October 25, 2023, Michael Müller, a member of the German Federal Parliament and former Mayor of Berlin, and Andreas Larem, a member of the German Federal Parliament, visited GVI and had a discussion with the Chinese hosts about Sino-German relations, the Russia-Ukraine issue as well as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Sergio Grassi, representative of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FEF) of Germany in China, Shi Yinhong, member of GVI’s Academic Committee and professor at the School of International Relations, Renmin University of China, Cui Hongjian, senior researcher at the Institute of Advanced Studies in Regional and Global Governance, Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU), and Huang Ying, assistant researcher at the Institute of European Studies of CASS, were present. Ren Libo, President of GVI, moderated the meeting.
The attendees agreed that the lack of mutual trust is a major crux between China and the West, which leads to suspicion and criticism from the other side whenever China or the West puts forward a political concept. Therefore, there is a need for pragmatic and detailed projects to jointly address such things as mutual distrust. There is also a need for a certain degree of political flexibility, rather than a dogmatic response to current problems.
The experts suggested that both China and Germany need to enhance their political trust through dialogues; however, a sound bilateral relationship cannot be secured by political ties alone. Instead, it needs to be built on a broader basis, for instance, deepening Sino-German cooperation in the fields of economy, trade and environmental protection, and intensifying scientific and educational as well as cultural exchanges.