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Sino-German relations had cooled since September last year when German Chancellor Angela Merkel insisted on meeting with the Dalai Lama despite the protests of the Chinese government. Commentaries in Chinese publications, and in at least one German newspaper, have suggested that Merkel made a mistake in putting human rights concerns over foreign policy by meeting with the Tibetan Buddhist leader.
On both sides are critics who disapprove of the swift resumption of relations, yet in practice, both sides need to keep their relationship healthy.
There are more acceptable alternatives if Germany wants to press China for progress in areas of concern. For German leaders to provoke China on the issues of Tibet or Taiwan at the expense of its economic interests makes little sense -- it leaves those issues unresolved while hurting Germany's own interests.
China and Germany need to cooperate as both are major world players. At the top of their shared agenda is the Iran nuclear issue, which is what brought Yang to Berlin as part of six-nation talks involving France, Russia, Britain and the United States in addition to China and Germany. These talks provide an arena for ironing out differences particularly between Iran and the United States.
U.S. initiatives to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue have not made much progress. The involvement of Germany is helpful, as its relationship with Iran appears closer than that of the United States or other European countries, which is largely due to historical relationships. For still greater leverage over Iran, Germany needs China's positive participation, as Iran and China have considerable economic cooperation especially in the energy industry. Thus China can better act as a bridge in reaching a compromise.
Ecological and trade considerations might also have contributed to the Chinese and German decisions to warm up their chilly relations. Unlike the United States, the European countries tend to be active in pushing for progress on issues affecting climate change and other environmental issues. As the biggest developing country, China has many environmental problems to overcome. China's positive participation is crucial for the success of any global strategy on climate change.
Some interest groups in both countries might have played a role in bridging differences between China and Germany, chiefly for economic reasons. Germany is China's largest trading partner in the European Commission. If political actions hinder economic interests, concerned interest groups would surely exert pressure to have the situation resolved. This is especially true for Germany; if it alienates China by overemphasizing human rights issues, it will hand over its share in the China market to other states like France and Britain, which is not what the Germans really want.
It would have been awkward for both countries if relations had continued to be tense as the year progresses. For one thing, German leaders should certainly be among the world leaders invited to attend the Olympic Games in Beijing in August. Also, Germany would not like to see this year's European Union-China Summit in October marred by tense Sino-German relations.
China was also keen to see the embarrassing situation resolved; otherwise, the importance of the two events, the Beijing Olympic Games and the EU-China Summit would be downplayed, and the image and influence of China might be damaged.
The recent quarrel between China and Germany, and its resolution, show that bilateral relations are much broader and more important than any single issue. While Germany may like to take a stand on human rights issues, it cannot afford to subjugate other aspects of its bilateral relationship to that one concern. States, like people, have to get along in the international arena; sometimes flexibility is required to maintain a relationship.
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(Zhang Quanyi is an associate professor at the Zhejiang Wanli University in Ningbo, China, and a Ph.D. candidate at Shanghai International Studies University, studying policy making and collective identity. His research interests focus on conflict management and identity construction. He can be contacted at qyzhangupi@gmail.com. ©Copyright Zhang Quanyi.)
