German businessmen have warned against unnecessary fears of
China stirred up by the recent media coverage of questionable
Chinese toys, the alleged plagiarism of German car designs as well
as a spying accusation against China.
"Germany needs to show more understanding for Asian countries
like China...some recent discussion just fell short of reflecting
the real truth," Juergen Hambrecht, chairman of the Asia-Pacific
Committee of German Business (APA), told German magazine Star in
its latest edition.
"Those discussions have aroused some concerns," he said.
German media, including the influential Der Spiegel weekly, have
recently rambled for pages on the recall of questionable Chinese
toys, the alleged plagiarism of German cars by some Chinese firms
as well as the spying programs by hacking on some German government
websites, an accusation that China has denied.
Some politicians even went so far as talking about prohibiting
investment in Germany by Chinese state funds.
"We have no reason to prohibit investment by other countries,"
said Juergen Thumann, president of the Federation of German
Industries (BDI).
As for the recall of Chinese toys, it is wrong to exaggerate the
safety concerns of all Chinese products, said Andreas Bauer, a
spokesman for TUEV SUED, an international certification group.
Germany is no exemption when it comes to the quality problems of
certain products, said Bauer.
Germany has recently been hit by a string of "rotten meat"
scandals that have aroused grave public concern.
In the latest move, around 150 tons of rotten meat has been
shipped from the southern German state of Bavaria to Berlin
companies making Turkish-style doner kebab skewers and then
distributed across the country.
Wang Xuejun, chairman of the Association of China-Germany
Economic Information, said German fears of China were largely
aroused by the speculation that China is soon about to replace
Germany as the world's biggest exporter and the world's third
biggest economy after the United States and Japan.
Some politician used the "China threat" to divert the public
attention on the domestic issues like high jobless rate so that
they can win more public support, he said.
Jorg Walter, a 75-year-old Berliner told Xinhua that he has no
doubt that China can make top-notch products.
Made-in-Germany, now regarded as a symbol of high quality
products, used to be a label to distinguish German products that
were generally considered "problematic" by British consumers over a
century ago, he said.
(Xinhua News Agency September 2, 2007)