A cancelled trip, a chip crisis, and Germany’s China problem

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul postponed a high-level trip to China amid a stand-off over chip exports for the car industry

Dear Reader,

It would have taken German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul (CDU) around nine hours to fly between Berlin and Beijing on Sunday, a trip which had been months in the making.

Instead, he spent just one hour in the air, bound for Brussels — “a place to meet allies and friends,” he said on Monday afternoon — postponing what was meant to be his first official visit to China since Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s government took office in May.

Wadephul had planned to meet his counterpart Wang Yi to press Beijing over export restrictions on certain rare earths and semiconductors — controls that have squeezed Germany’s carmakers and defence suppliers and are set to increase on November 8th.

He also hoped to bring up China’s support for Russia’s war in Ukraine through the supply of dual-use electronics, as well as growing security tensions in East Asia.

But, after Beijing confirmed only one meeting, Wadephul pulled the plug. He downplayed the decision as a postponement and not an outright c…