The following is a continuation of the previous chapter.
US-German Cracks Deepening over China and Russia
The ongoing event in front of the eye is undoubtedly the crustal movement of international politics once every 100 years. It is Mr. Tadae Takubo who points out the importance of the Security Conference in München, Germany, in February this year, when it bursts violently. The conference showed that the US and European relations, which were one of the pillars of the post-war world international order, were cracked. Japan needs to seriously consider the meaning of the conference, which made it known that the world was hit by a major earthquake. The conference, which is held by many countries including the US, Europe, Russia, China, is one of the authoritative meetings to discuss global security, and the United States and Europe work together in the same position, serving as a pillar of deterrence against Russia and China. It exposed a groove depth equal to aerial decomposition this year. Angela Merkel spoke at the beginning of the meeting as the Prime Minister of the host country.
"All international relations are interaction." "The world is in a big puzzle." "For Europe, the worst news in this year is the end of the Medium-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) abolition treaty. The closure was inevitable because of Russia's violation of the treaty for years, but the US-Soviet (Russian) originally agreed on the treaty for Europe, didn’t they?”
Having accused President Trump of having withdrawn from the INF Treaty and referring to Russia's violation of the Treaty, Mr. Merkel suggested that a new INF treaty should be created including China, but China was not to receive it.
Germany wants to stop the mid-range nuclear weapons that its own country is targeted. The protection of their own country is the top priority in every country.
Subsequently, US Vice President Mike Pence, who made a speech, focused on Russia's criticism. In addition, the Chinese Communist Party’s political officer, who later spoke, clearly opposed the Merkel proposal.
After all, 95% of China's nuclear weapons are in violation of the INF Convention. That is exactly the reason for leaving of the United States. Hung said that "China is developing nuclear weapons in the need of its own defense and is not a threat to other countries. It is against the multilateralization of the INF abolition treaty".
Pence raised the issue of defense spending for NATO member countries, saying that "US first does not mean" US alone." and "a firm vow" to NATO defense is "the unchanging policy of the United States.
Mr. Pence boasted the strength of the United States to each country here. The United States has implemented historic tax cuts and significant deregulation. He also established mutual principles in trade. The United States has become the world's largest exporter of oil and natural gas. I promise that the United States will protect NATO. However, NATO added that he stressed that the country's self-help efforts should be needed. In addition to 2% of GDP, he requested that 20% of defense spending in each country be used for equipment purchases in 2024. This statement is opposite to the statement that the United States does not miss when importing weapons equipment from hostile countries, so it is saying that you should buy US weapons equipment and not Russia.
Merkel is not losing. One of them is the statement about "Nord Stream 2". Germany has laid a pipeline on the bottom of the Baltic Sea, bypassing Ukraine, which had been earning income as a transit country through pipelines in Russia for its own natural gas export pipeline, and as a Germany became transit country. Russia will get huge income from its ability to export well.
While the US supports NATO, which places Russia as a threat, including costs, why did Germany join hands with Russia to help export resources that bring “billions of dollars income” to Russia? United States cannot understand the following. Germany, which could minimize military spending and became a major economic power thanks to US military support, cooperated with Russia.
Pence has urged all European countries to oppose the German-Russian pipeline project, but Merkel counteracts in front of Pence.
"Germany does not leave Ukraine. East Germany bought gas from Russia during the Cold War. Later, West Germany bought a lot of it as well. So why do you say so now?"
"My left is Mr. Poroshenko, President of Ukraine, and Mr. Zhi Jie, China representative, on the right. It is difficult to say in front of the two, but can we let Russia rely on China? Russia's gas via China is it okay to import, which does not seem to be European profits? "
It is an imposing objection to the United States. It’s worth pointing out that Russia may be driven to become China-dependent, isn’t it? Nevertheless, Pence strongly criticized Merkel's Nord Stream 2. By contrast, when Merkel announced that the United States would put duty on cars to clear the trade deficit, it vividly showed that European cars were a threat to US security.
"We are proud of German cars, but BMW's largest factory is not in Germany, but in South Carolina, USA. The US export BMW to China from there!"
There is no room for defense in the United States. Merkel was keen to avoid making such unreasonable criticism if he wanted to maintain the Atlantic Alliance towards the United States.
The gap between Merkel and Pence has not been buried about the threat of China's Huawei or its nuclear agreement with Iran. We Japanese should keep in mind deeply the Chinese view that Mr. Merkel told in that.
When Merkel visited China, a Chinese government official told him:
"We have been economic power in the world in the 2000 years AD 2000. It's no surprise. What happens from now is that we just return to the place where we were before. (omission) About this 300 years, first Europeans rule it and then Americans, now we rule together. "
Merkel's impression of this Chinese historical view was, "We are looking at China rising up and running up now."
As we will see later, China aims to be the world's most prosperous economic power and a powerful car power ‘that has never been seen by humanity’. It seems that Merkel thinks that such a Chinese dream will come true.
As a European country that is far from China and has not historically been too threatened by China, Merkel will not be afraid of China's threat. Is it a difference from the Japanese sensibility that has always faced China's threat almost every time?
This manuscript continues.
