In the German magazine Focus a programmatic article was published that accuses the CCP of genocide in the American sense and advocates complete decoupling – a man from Carnegie who ironically calls himself a „China understander“was the author:

China murders peoples, Putin is at war: dictators present us with a decision – FOCUS Online

https://m.focus.de/politik/der-china-versteher/raus-aus-der-abhaengigkeit-deutschland-muss-china-so-behandeln-wie-russia_id_107942327.html

Some seem to be serious about decoupling. According to the Bertelsmann Foundation study cited in this article, Western trade with non-democracies is only 15%. Is this number correct? In any case, the impression is given that trade with non-democracies can easily be avoided. Apparently they want to do without it. Singapore is also counted in the Beijing camp in the article because of its Han Chinese majority.

Dr Sachsenröder from the Institute for South East Asia Studies in Singapore said:

“Another expert who interprets his material as China posing as a threat to all upstanding democrats in the world. I’m not particularly impressed by the article. The outlier Singapore is only logical, 75% Chinese and more and more from the People’s Republic. By the way: More and more countries seem to be barely governable, with the USA at the forefront. „

China expert and sinology professor van Ess said: “

The thing about ungovernability is correctly observed. The Chinese academics I just spoke to are fearful across the board that the Democrats will lose the next US election. They are genuinely (!) afraid of the Republicans. In China, however, people say that the western version of the cultural revolution is now rampant there – political correctness, gender gaga & co. However, the Democrats are responsible for that. You’re not quite as afraid of them, but you just think they’re nuts in a different way than Republicans.“

The “gender gaga” means diversity, but in the case of Biden it is not even dedicated that much *to sexual orientation, but to the melting pot, which is supposed to be balanced through participation. For the CP China, however, these are only side contradictions beyond its strictly traditional economist Marx teachings that should not be discussed, although its politburo has almost no woman or a Tibetan or Uyghur, which is actually Biden’s concern. And Gendergaga doesn’t care about Xi JInping either, as long as you don’t want a drag queen in the politburo or Gendergaga addresses him as Xi JInping*innen. But that is German and not an American threat to him. For the time being, fears that Trump or Pompeo will abandon the one-China principle will prevail. You can easily forgive the Democrats for their gender gaga, especially since the criticism of it also shows that the CCP is more with the Republicans and Trumpists on value-conservative issues of the Kulturkampf/clash of civilizations. But beyond these secondary theaters of war, there are two points of criticism:

This figure of only 15% Western trade with non-democracies is a bit strange when, conversely, it always means that China is the or one of the most important trading partners, e.g. Germany is. Are the figures from the Bertelsmann Foundation correct at all? Even if that was the case, this could still be a milkmaid calculation. Because Germany and Europe are very poor in raw materials and have to import strategic raw materials, mostly from non-democracies, even if their commercial value is perhaps not that extensive. But trade with non-democracies is likely to be higher and there is a suspicion that this is an ideological study to make decoupling viable and acceptable.

Secondly, the issue of ungovernability is an important point, at least since Capitol Hill, but conversely one must also see that “governability” ala Putin or Erdogan leads to one war after the other, perhaps also soon on the part of China. And is „governability“ ala Chinese lockdowns so desirable and a sign of governability? Everything a bit wood carving. Good governance or good administration ala Singapore is also seen as a way out between West and East. On the part of the Chinese opposition, there seems to be no alternative. The then veterans like Hu Ping, Wei Jingsheng, Han Dongfang, etc. still had clear, liberal-democratic ideas of a united, democratic China that would peacefully unite with Taiwan as democracies and grant minority rights and meaningful autonomy to the Uyghurs and Tibetans

The current opposition types as such oligarchs as GuoWengui as Chinese Trump, who threatens the Chinese democrats with mafia methods and is in the same boat with Steve Bannon, or the clerical-fascist Falun Gong are the determining forces. Nothing that should be supported. And Liao Yiwu, who is so hyped in Germany, also explains that there is no longer a need for a united democratic China, but that China should consist of warlords states, democratic and communist parts of the country, where everyone should be able to choose what they choose . In addition, with a drunken governor for Sichuan, the home province of Deng Xiaoping. Well for such persons it would be better to go to a Maotai or whiskey br or to write poems, but keep away from politics, fi they just wanted to have a drunken governor of Sichuan in Chinese era of new „pluralistic“ Warring States. Well, maybe meant more poetically and sometimes artists and poets simply should shut up about political visions of the future instead of fantasizing about a new Warring States. So much for future Chinese governability. China and its opposition in exile are just rubbish. Neo-totalitarianism ala Xi, or a Chinese Trump ala Guo Wengui, or a clerical-fascist dictatorship ala Falun Gong, or a Warring States civil war.Back to the future.

In this respect, it will still need successor generations in Russia, Turkey or China, perhaps even a catharsis, in order to produce a new generation that is no longer contaminated by nationalism and is no longer hung up on ideas about the expansion as the leading world power. This means that the parts of the liberal-democratic West that are now waking up must first of all limit their internal enemies and secondly all the negative influence of authoritarian states who want to influence the Western system and threaten it. Whether you can decouple everything and create a dogmatic front despite other global political tasks such as climate protection, there is still the question of whether that is really realpolitik. The German Chancellor Scholz also advocates a “new, sustainable globalization”. In any case, it will not work without elements of containment.