Germany should not be misled by US' false narrative demonizing China

Amid the backdrop of intensifying Cold-War-style tensions, there appears to be increasing worries about the prospect of relations between China and Germany in both countries.

In Beijing, from scholars to government officials to the business community, people are wondering how far Germany, a key European partner in economy and trade over the past decades, will go in supporting the United States-led Western initiative to contain, if not deter, a rising China. Likewise, in Berlin, questions are being asked of their country's relations with China, which despite being an economic and trade partner that has proved to be instrumental and dependable is now broadly demonized in the West under the dubious auspices of the US.

Since China has officially been defined as a systemic rival by the European Union and a potential challenger to European security by NATO, how should Germany, a key member of both institutions, recalibrate its China policy? Should it jump on the anti-China bandwagon and seek to decouple from China?