CERCLE DIPLOMATIQUE - issue 4/2017

LE MONDE ESSAY
The history of two successful
development paths
Heinz Fischer
Born in Graz, he studied law
and political science at the
University of Vienna,
earning a doctorate in law in
1961. He started his political
career in 1962 as a party
secretary for the Social
Democratic Group in the
Austrian National Assembly.
He took office as 11th
Federal President of Austria
in July 2004 and was
re-elected for a second and
last term in April 2010,
leaving office in July 2016.
Fischer previously also
served as Minister of
Science and Research from
1983 to 1987 and as Speaker
of the National Assembly
from 1990 to 2002.
Today, he is the President of
the Austrian-Chinese
Society.
The former Austrian Federal President on Austrian-Chinese relations and China‘s
obvious catching-up process with Europe and the USA in recent decades.
My interest in China became even greater with
the establishment of diplomatic relations.
My first trip to China took place in the autumn
of 1974. At that time, I was a young member of
the Austrian Parliament and seized the opportunity
offered to me by the Chinese Embassy in Vienna to visit
Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong and Hong Kong with
my wife.
In September 2017, I completed my tenth trip to
China as a former Federal President and president of
the Austrian-Chinese Society. It is obvious that China
has achieved an incredible catching-up process with
Europe and the USA in recent decades. China has
weathered the financial and economic crisis in the years
after 2008 far better than most other economies
and has since even become an important “engine“ for
world economy.
A well-known economist, Branko Milanovic, who
deals with issues of inequality and was chief economist
at the World Bank for many years, has recently
argued that if relatively low growth rates persist in Europe
and those in China only decline slightly (e.g. to
approx. 5%), then average incomes of Europe and
China are expected to converge over the next 20 to 30
years (source: Branko Milanovic, Global Inequality,
2016).
Of course, China‘s success story is not without problems.
The profound catching-up process of the past
20 years has left deep marks in many areas – e.g. a
dramatic environmental situation and increasing social
challenges such as the danger of growing inequality
in income and wealth distribution.
The current 5-year plan (13th 5-year plan 2016-
2020), however, provides for a very ambitious programme
that meets the challenges outlined above. It is
about a reorientation from an investment-driven to a
consumption-driven economy and from an environment-destroying
to a sustainable economy and an innovation-oriented
economy.
When I met with President XI Jinping and PM LI
Keqiang in 2015 during my second state visit, the Silk
Road Initiative (Belt and Road) was at the centre of my
discussions. Austria has recognised the importance of
this initiative and I have been working for Austria to
become a founding member of the Asian Infrastructure
Investment Bank, a new development bank to finance
necessary infrastructure in Asia, which has
since happened.
Currently, about 950 Austrian companies operate
successfully in China and Hong Kong. With a trading
volume of over EUR 11.3 billion (2016), China is
Austria‘s largest trading partner in Asia and second
largest outside Europe after the USA. Austria is the
fourth largest EU investor in China. The Chinese
market is nevertheless not only interesting for large
companies, but also for SMEs.
Austria is very well positioned in the high-tech sector,
especially in environmental technologies, water
economy as well as sustainable agriculture and forestry.
It also has excellent know-how in the area of infrastructure,
mechanical engineering and sustainable
urban planning (“smart cities“), and works closely
with Chinese partners. Austria is also becoming increasingly
interesting for Chinese investment. The Bank
of China is already present in Vienna; ICBC is planning
to open headquarters in Vienna and wants to
manage the Eastern European business from there.
The active management of highly specialised market
niches, the Advantage Austria-WKÖ strategy in China,
proves to be successful.
The Office for Science and Technology, which has
been in Beijing since the beginning of 2012 thanks to
the cooperation of BMWFW (Federal Ministry of Science,
Research and Economics), BMVIT (Federal Ministry
for Transport, Innovation and Technology) and
BMEIA (Austrian Ministry for European and International
Affairs) and which has also been physically integrated
into the offices of Austrian Federal Railways
PHOTO: PHOTO SIMONIS
Beijing since 2017, has proven to be very useful in the
context of positioning Austria as a high technology
provider.
The sectors of “smart city“ and innovation are of
particular interest to Chengdu, the emerging capital of
Sichuan Province. Chengdu and the city of Vienna
have developed a close exchange of visitors as well as
relevant ministries. I am very pleased that Austria has
recently decided to open an additional Consulate General
in Chengdu.
Chinese tourism to Austria is also booming. In
China, Austria stands for “classical music“, culture,
our cities and imperial history. Regional sights, nature
and easy outdoor activities are also in demand.
Austria is also a country that, like most states in the
European Union, feels very attached to the idea of human
rights. I welcome Europe‘s sensitivity to individual
human rights issues. But if you look at the fact
that in China, and in other parts of the world, the relationship
between social human rights and individual
human rights is weighted differently than in Europe,
then the historical background of this fact and the
BOOK TIP
Österreich und China im Bild
1624 bis 2016
Gerd Kaminski
The picture book demonstrates the long and variable history of
Austrian-Chinese relations with a multiplicity of sights. Among
them are drawings by the Upper Austrian Jesuit Johann Grueber
who made them in China or a copper engraving, showing the
christening of the last Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty by the
Jesuit Andreas Kofler from Krems. Not to be missed credits of
the influence of Chinese Art on the baroque era and later on on
the artists Klimt and Kokoschka as well as on the travel to China
of the Austrian successor Franz
Ferdinand.
A very special piece is the
congratulatory letter of the
Chinese Emperor, crested with
a dragon and tied in heavy silk,
for the birthday of Emperor
Franz Joseph.
BACOPA,
ISBN: 978-3902735928
Bilingual, in German and Chinese
great social pressure that still exists in these countries
must be considered.
Finally, if I may take a quick look at Chinese foreign
policy from an Austrian point of view, the following
must be stated:
Preferred vehicles for pro-active Chinese foreign
policy are regional groups with which Beijing builds
specialised and mostly comprehensive relations.
The most significant such regional initiative is
undoubtedly the aforementioned revival of the Silk
Road Initiative (Belt and Road), as a bundle of terrestrial
and maritime trade, investment and communication
routes between Asia and Europe involving Africa.
Since the Belt and Road Forum in mid-May 2017, the
Silk Road Initiative has definitely presented itself as
global.
While the US under Obama was THE superpower,
which China compared itself to in virtually all aspects
and at the same time tried to build a ”new kind of superpower
relations“ with, under its current leadership,
the US is pursuing an ”America first“ policy, giving
China more space on the international stage.
If the question is asked in which areas cooperation
with China can be particularly promising in the future
and also in line with European values, then for me, for
example, it’s joint work with the United Nations and in
particular the implementation of the Agenda 2030
sustainable development goals. At the same time, joint
work on the implementation of the Paris Agreement
on Climate Change should be mentioned.
The preparations for the party convention and its
progress so far point to a strengthening of the position
and policies of Xi Jinping, who is described as the core
of the party and as an outstanding ideologue.
In terms of domestic policy, it is striking that Xi
sees the main contradiction in Chinese society as ”the
unbalanced development between poor and rich provinces,
and the growing needs of the population for a
better life“.
Conclusions can be drawn from this for future
strategies in Chinese politics. But whatever the next
decisions in China will be, it is important that we continue
a fair partnership policy, that we strengthen the
exchange of information and ideas and that we work
towards a common humane and peaceful future.
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