Controversy over ‘threat’ China stake in Hamburg port

Chancellor Olaf Scholz is ploughing ahead with a deal that would see Chinese terminal operator Cosco take a 35% stake in the key Hamburg Tollerort Terminal amid opposition from coalition partners and security warnings from intelligence officials.

Initially tabled in 2021 and recently revealed by  Der Spiegel, the deal has caused outrage from others in the governing coalition.

“Just as Sigmar Gabriel [former vice-chancellor] sold off gas storage facilities to Russia, Olaf Scholz now wants to sell off parts of the port of Hamburg to China,” said Marcel Emmerich, Greens spokesman in the Interior Committee.

Headwinds came even from within the SPD, with the Chairman of the party’s parliamentary group in the Bundestag, Detlef Müller, wrote: “We should have learned from the past, also from mistakes. Critical infrastructure, a big topic in recent days, belongs in public hands!”

All the while, Thomas Haldenwang, Head of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution warned that no situation should be allowed to arise in which China could “influence political developments in Germany as well” via infrastructure.

These comments come in the context of a stark warning issued by Federal Intelligence Service (BND) President Bruno Kahl, who said on Monday that China’s foreign influence is Europe’s real threat.

During the public hearing of Germany’s Intelligence Service chiefs before the Parliamentary Control Committee, Kahl said his agency had been recurrently warning the German executive of a possible invasion as the Kremlin would not shy away from using violence to achieve its political goals, FAZ reported.

Asked by MPs whether there are other impending dangers that are not sufficiently accounted for by politicians and the public, the BND chief pointed at “an autocratic China rising to global power.”

His message was seconded by fellow intelligence Chief Haldenwang, who argued that “alongside Russia, China is an important actor that needs to be monitored.”

Beijing’s global quest is said to involve Chinese intelligence increasingly targeting German armed forces “at a high level,” as noted by the head of the Military Counterintelligence Service, Martina Rosenberg.

The BND Chief has long raised concerns over allowing Chinese firms to hold stakes in key infrastructure projects. Three years ago, Kalh opposed entrusting Chinese tech giant Huawei to deploy the country’s 5G network.

(Martín Herrera Witzel | EURACTIV.com)