‘The KMT must also boycott legislation […] that hinder Chinese commercial activities or investments in Taiwan, they said. The last condition requires the KMT to initiate reforms or take action to remove institutional obstacles to “Chinese unification,” the source said.’

4/4: Germany’s use for Beijing as economic ties proponent peaked under Merkel. Li Keqiang and Yang Jiechi went to Germany much more than to France. However, strategic autonomy-proponent France now receives Chinese Prime Ministers and Foreign Ministers as often as Berlin, and VP Han Zheng twice vs 0.

3/4: Chancellor Merkel and President Macron appear to have had the most intense relationship with China of the two countries’ leaders. However, one should not ignore the era of Nicolas Sarkozy and his Prime Ministers and Foreign Ministers, who went more often than their Macron-era successors.

2/4: The quality of German engagement is lower than France’s. Comparing the overall trends of both countries, we see a relatively similar pattern. Yet, France seems to be a more consistent partner overall, and gets more presidential attention. The disparity in 2025 visits was exceptional.

1/4: Comparing the Hu and Xi eras, France has overtaken Germany in relative terms. Although Germany had a post-Merkel dip under Scholz/Baerbock, its visit total is constant over both terms. The difference is the absolute increase in Sino-French engagement.

France’s Macron threatens China with tariffs over trade surplus, Les Echos – Reuters: ‘President Emmanuel Macron said he had threatened Beijing with tariffs during his state visit to China if there was no action taken to reduce the country's ever-widening trade deficit with the European Union.’

National Security Strategy of the United States of America 2025 – The White House: ‘Our broad policy for Europe should prioritize: […] Cultivating resistance to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations; […]’

The MAGA regime is also trying to split the member states from the EU:

Beijing is trying to divide the member states from the EU:

Why top German diplomat’s China trip aims to manage rivalry but won’t reset ties – SCMP: ‘should be viewed as pragmatic management of a complex “systemic rivalry”, rather than a major reset in Beijing’s relations with Berlin or Brussels.’

SCMP: ‘The Dutch were then worried that Nexperia’s Chinese owners would start shipping equipment from Hamburg to China and asked the German government to help. Frustrated by the sluggish response, they resorted to calling the local police and asking them to keep watch at the plant.’