Dhe EU Commission warned Germany months ago against allowing a partial sale of a terminal in the Port of Hamburg to the Chinese state shipping company Cosco. A corresponding statement from the authority with security concerns was sent to the federal government in the spring, a source familiar with the matter told the AFP news agency on Saturday. She confirmed a report by the “Handelsblatt”.
In its assessment, the Commission pointed out that sensitive information about the port business could flow to China, the “Handelsblatt” reported on Friday. In addition, the Brussels experts had put forward the argument that the port of Hamburg was not only of civil but also military importance. Therefore, special caution is required when entering a Chinese investor.
The EU Commission’s negative assessment of the deal is not binding for Germany, as it was said in Brussels. Ultimately, the member country decides.
China demands openness from Germany
In the struggle over China’s possible entry into a container terminal in the port of Hamburg, the Chinese government is admonishing Germany to be open. Since diplomatic relations were established 50 years ago, pragmatic cooperation and mutual benefit have always been the guiding principles, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.
Both countries would have participated intensively in the development of the other and benefited from it. China welcomes mutually beneficial projects, the broad statement said. Both China and Germany should adhere to openness and cooperation, to jointly promote the healthy and stable development of economic and trade cooperation.
In 2021, the Hamburg port logistics company HHLA and the Chinese terminal operator Cosco Shipping Ports Limited reached an agreement on a 35 percent Chinese stake in the HHLA terminal in Tollerort in the Hanseatic city. Now there is a political dispute over whether Chinese participation should be allowed. Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) warned of new dependencies with regard to Russia, as did FDP politicians. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) recently emphasized that nothing had been decided yet and that many questions still had to be clarified.
Merz concerned about data security
SPD leader Lars Klingbeil sees a “sometimes very abbreviated” debate when talking about the “sellout of the Port of Hamburg”. “If you take a closer look, you really see that it is an operating company. It’s about a minority stake in a terminal. I don’t want to downplay that at all, but (…) it’s not about letting the Chinese into the critical infrastructure,” said Klingbeil on Deutschlandfunk. This must now be “clarified exactly”, there are “a few more days” left. From his point of view, China’s entry into critical infrastructure would be “problematic” and must be ruled out. “The infrastructure belongs to the city of Hamburg and it will stay that way,” said the SPD politician.
CDU leader Friedrich Merz, on the other hand, warned in a circular email that Chinese participation in the terminal company “deeply affects the security interests of our country”. A Chinese state-owned company would thus have “access to essential data on freight traffic in the Port of Hamburg. And that at exactly the time when the Communist Party in China is again intensifying its aggressive tone in foreign policy and is threatening a war against Taiwan.” He accused Chancellor Scholz of playing for time until a deadline for prohibiting participation expires expire in October.
The Foreign Trade and Payments Ordinance allows the Ministry of Economic Affairs, under certain circumstances and after an examination, to prohibit an investor from a non-EU country from investing in a German company that operates critical infrastructure, for example.
According to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), the Chinese offer is putting the Port of Hamburg in a difficult position. “When Cosco says, ‘You will become a preferred port if you accept the participation’, one naturally has to ask the question: What if this participation is not approved?” Rolf Langhammer from IfW Kiel told NDR. “Would cargo then be taken from Hamburg to other North Sea ports – i.e. Rotterdam, Seebrücke or Antwerp?” This was the critical moment at this point in time. “Because the Port of Hamburg is in a difficult situation.”
The siltation problem and the problem of the Elbe deepening cannot be solved so easily for a tidal port, said Langhammer. “That means that Hamburg, as a competitor to Rotterdam and the other ports, has its back against the wall.” This offer from the Chinese almost comes as a threat. “According to the motto: If you don’t do it, there will be negative consequences.”
