Why things with China do not go the way of our minister of foreign affairs Gabrielius Landsbergis?

"German Chancellor Olaf Scholz heads to Beijing this week, days after Chinese leader Xi Jinping embarked on a third term and reaffirmed his support for Russia despite Moscow's military operation in Ukraine.

The visit -- it is also the first by a Group of Seven leader since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic -- comes amid a standoff between China and the U.S. over the future of Taiwan, which Beijing sees as a renegade province. Beijing also angered Washington and its allies in recent days, when it said it would deepen relations with Russia and repeated its position that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was to blame for the military operation in Ukraine.

The trip is also happening as Germany's economy teeters on the brink of a recession because of rocketing energy costs and falling exports, raising China's significance as an economic lifeline for German manufacturers. China accounts for 12.4% of German imports and 7.4% of its exports, according to the German Economic Institute, a think tank, making it Germany's largest trade partner.

 

This dependence has pushed Mr. Scholz to walk a tightrope, seeking to maintain a vital economic relationship while navigating rising East-West geopolitical tensions.

 

His critics are growing concerned that Berlin has failed to learn the lessons from its economic dependence on Russia as Beijing hardens its own relations with the West.

Last week, Mr. Scholz allowed China's state-control shipping company Cosco Shipping Holdings Co. to acquire a 24.9% concession of a container terminal in Hamburg, Germany's largest port, despite opposition from within his government. After the decision, Germany's Foreign Ministry said the deal would increase China's hold on critical infrastructure in Germany." [1]

 At the same time, the German foreign minister promised to personally breastfeed millions of Ukrainians in the coming cold winter. Mr. Scholz and Mr. Biden have a lesson from Russia - sanctions against big countries do not work. That fact induces eagerness to escalate sanctions. Escalation and disorder grows till economic and political backlash in sanctioneers' own countries throws the sanctioneers off the cliff.

1. World News: German Chancellor Is Heading To Beijing
Pancevski, Bojan. 
Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 03 Nov 2022: A.16.