The vice chancellor of Germany has reportedly proposed tightening the screening process for foreign direct investment from China, according to reports from local media outlets.
Rober Habeck, a member of the Green coalition and federal minister for economic affairs and climate action, said the tightening of restrictions on Chinese foreign investment would be in “critical sectors,” which include semiconductors and artificial intelligence (AI).
It aims to consolidate and simplify a number of existing rules pertaining to sectors in which China is dominant, such as those mentioned above. He also reportedly proposed cracking down on Chinese efforts to bypass existing rules.
This proposal comes a month after comments from Annalena Baerbock, Germany’s minister for foreign affairs, during a speech warning of China becoming increasingly “repressive internally and more aggressive externally.”
China hat sich in den letzten Jahren so rasant verändert, wie vielleicht kein anderes Land. Wer #China zuhört, weiß, mit welchem Selbstbewusstsein es die Entwicklung dieses Jahrhunderts prägen wird. Mit der #ChinaStrategie geben wir uns für unsere Beziehungen den Kompass. 1/5
— Außenministerin Annalena Baerbock (@ABaerbock) July 13, 2023
Reportedly, the measures proposed by Habeck don’t focus on outbound investment into Chinese tech industries. This, however, was of primary focus in recently finalized rules coming from the United States, which are being considered by many European countries, including Germany, France and the United Kingdom.
The proposed legislation is awaiting remarks from various government departments before becoming official. German officials are also in the process of discussing AI regulations.
Germany is the largest economy in Europe and China is its largest trading partner, according to official statistics from the German government.
Cointelegraph reached out to the German Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action for further comments.
These moves out of Germany follow an ongoing quid pro quo regarding AI development and deployment between China and the United States.
After multiple instances of the U.S. tightening export controls and investment opportunities, China announced it would be tightening controls around the export of crucial chip-making materials.
The U.S. then responded by revealing plans to restrict China’s access to cloud computing services. Most recently, it has released a series of new rules regarding investments both from and to China in these two “critical sectors,” among others.
Meanwhile, in China, lawmakers have officially released and implemented regulations surrounding the development and deployment of AI in the country.
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Canterbury MP Rosie Duffield has resigned from the Labour Party.
The 53-year-old MP is the first to jump ship since the general election and in her resignation letter criticised the prime minister for accepting thousands of pounds worth of gifts.
She told Sir Keir Starmer the reason for leaving now is “the programme of policies you seem determined to stick to”, despite their unpopularity with the electorate and MPs.
In her letter she accused the prime minister and his top team of “sleaze, nepotism and apparent avarice” which are “off the scale”.
“I’m so ashamed of what you and your inner circle have done to tarnish and humiliate our once proud party,” she said.
Since December 2019, the prime minister received £107,145 in gifts, benefits, and hospitality – a specific category in parliament’s register of MPs’ interests.
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Ms Duffield, who has previously clashed with the prime minister on gender issues, attacked the government for pursuing “cruel and unnecessary” policies as she resigned the Labour whip.
She criticised the decision to keep the two-child benefit cap and means-test the winter fuel payment, and accused the prime minister of “hypocrisy” over his acceptance of free gifts from donors.
“Since the change of government in July, the revelations of hypocrisy have been staggering and increasingly outrageous,” she said.
“I cannot put into words how angry I and my colleagues are at your total lack of understanding about how you have made us all appear.”
Ms Duffield also mentioned the recent “treatment of Diane Abbott”, who said she thought she had been barred from standing by Labour ahead of the general election, before Sir Keir said she would be allowed to defend her Hackney North and Stoke Newington seat for the party.
Her relationship with the Labour leadership has long been strained and her decision to quit the party comes after seven other Labour MPs were suspended for rebelling by voting for a motion calling for the two-child benefit cap to be abolished.
“Someone with far-above-average wealth choosing to keep the Conservatives’ two-child limit to benefit payments which entrenches children in poverty, while inexplicably accepting expensive personal gifts of designer suits and glasses costing more than most of those people can grasp – this is entirely undeserving of holding the title of Labour prime minister,” she said.
Ms Duffield said she will continue to represent her constituents as an independent MP, “guided by my core Labour values”.