Opinion | The quality that a great national leader is made of
By Augustus K. Yeung
INTRODUCTION
In recent years, amid the long pandemic crisis and the nagging conflict in Eastern Europe, we have seen good national leaders and bad ones acting under pressure.
Who is a good or bad national leader? What are their good and bad qualities? How to decide who is good and who is bad?
Liz Truss was every inch a junior female politician pretending to be "an iron lady". "Mr. Speaker, I am not a quitter; I am a fighter." It did not take long to know that she was a weak leader, though hawkish in language and mannerism; she selected an inexperienced and inferior M.P. with no expertise to be the Treasure chief.
And she did not take personal responsibility when it became clear that the government's extraordinary mini-Budget was disappointing to the public; she simply fired him, misleading the public that Kwasi Kwarteng was to blame. The public refused to be fooled, and the Truss administration lasted only 44 days, a weakling, who had preferred to argue her flimsy case against strong public opinion, ending up in the dustbin of history!
In this article we study one recent case, "Germany finds compromise over Chinese in Hamburg port," and discuss how Chancellor Olaf Scholz manifests his outstanding leadership quality and charming personality that enables him to turn oppositions into business interest with China.
German Chancellor Made a Compromise that Saves the Deal with China's COSCO
Germany's government agreed on a compromise yesterday that will allow a Chinese shipping group to take a smaller stake in the operator of the country's biggest container terminal following concerns the deal might pose a national security risk.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz' Cabinet agreed to allow COSCO Shipping to only acquire a stake below 25% --instead of the previously planned 35% -- in the Tollerort terminal of Hamburg port logistics company HHLA, the Ministry for Economic Affairs said in a statement.
The ministry said the decision was made to prevent a "strategic investment" by COSCO in the terminal and "reduces the acquisition to a purely financial investment."
"The reason for the partial prohibition is the existence of a threat to public order and safety," the ministry said.
The 25% threshold cannot be exceeded in the future without a new investment review process, the German ministry said. It added that COSCO is prohibited from contractually granting itself veto rights over strategic business or personnel decisions.
The question of whether Chinese participation in the port should be permitted had produced a political dispute as Germany wrestled with the consequences of its dependence on Russian natural gas.
Lawmakers from the Green Party and the Free Democrats, which formed a governing coalition last year with Scholz' Social Democrats, openly criticized the original proposal last week. Six German government ministries initially rejected it on the grounds that COSCO, already the port's biggest customer, could get too much leverage.
Scholz, who is set to travel to China early next month with a delegation of German business representatives, was in favor of COSCO's participation in an HHLA deal, German media reported.
Foreign Minister Annalen Baerbock had argued that Berlin needed to avoid repeating with China the mistakes it made with Russia. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier also warned against becoming too dependent on China.
"We have to learn lessons and learning the lesson means we have to reduce unilateral dependencies wherever possible, and that applies to China in particular," Steinmeier told public broadcaster ARD during a Tuesday visit to Ukraine.
German intelligence agencies said earlier this month that China's financial might could become a risk for Germany, particularly because of the strong economic and scientific ties between the two countries.
COSCO also hold stakes in several other European ports, including the Greek port of Piraeus. (Source: MDT/AP)
CONCLUSION
Unless you have a strong personality, excellent judgment, political acuteness, and the ability to withstand tremendous political pressure like German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who must face all the following oppositions put together at one time.
Given the German President's warning about "becoming too dependent on China,", and the fact that lawmakers from the Green Party and the Free Democrats, which formed a governing coalition last year with Scholz' Social Democrats which are now opposing the deal with COSCO, and against the German intelligence agencies warnings that China's financial might could become a risk for Germany, particularly because of the strong economic and scientific ties between the two countries."
Given the polls which forecast that Joe Biden's popularity is sliding, the political climate in the United States is favorable to the German Chancellor's firm stand on closing the deal with COSCO, a China state-owned shipping conglomerate.
Given his superb managerial skills, Olaf Scholz also inherits the social support that Angela Merkel enjoyed. Their Party has since become the power base that these charismatic, strong and wise German national leaders have created, Scholz can now exercise, enjoy his bargaining-power.
His deep understand of modern China, whose image as a no-nonsense nation makes the German and the Chinese "strange bed fellows". Having visited China many times in the past, the Chancellor is now leading a group of German businesspeople visiting China in early November, Scholz knows very well that this is a political gamble – one in which he stands to gain as Russia – seem by Europeans as an aggressor— cannot be compared with China, which has no territorial ambitions and material conflicts with Europe, but business activities to conduct – all to the benefits of both countries.
Amidst the war in Eastern Europe, the rising economic hardships in Europe and the pressure from the United States, the narrative of "a man for all seasons" is rising; the German Chancellor may very well be a national hero that is emerging in the political horizon.
With a weakening American hegemony, the rise of Germany after WW II is accompanying an ascending Asia, a modern China – much to the chaotic world's consolation.
The author is a freelance writer; formerly Adjunct Lecturer, taught MBA Philosophy of Management, and International Strategy, and online columnist of 3-D Corner (HKU SPACE), University of Hong Kong.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of DotDotNews.
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