Germany has seen a significant rise in CCP virus cases over the past few days. The total now stands at over 10,000—more than South Korea, one of the first countries to be hit hard.
NTD refers to the novel coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19, as the CCP virus because the Chinese Communist Party’s coverup and mismanagement allowed the virus to spread throughout China and create a global pandemic.
The western state of North Rhine-Westphalia, or NRW, is the most severely affected. Over a third of all Germany’s cases are there.
NRW is the most populous state in Germany. It also has close ties with the Chinese regime.
The state is home to the largest inland port in the world—Duisburg Port. The port is a key participant in the Chinese regime’s Belt and Road initiative, China’s state-backed campaign for global dominance.
The city’s mayor once called it Germany’s “China city.”
Duisburg is a sister city of Wuhan, where the epidemic started. It was the first German city to form such a relationship with China, way back in 1982.
In this 2017 interview with Chinese state media, the mayor of Duisburg Sören Link said the two cities were still closely connected with “economic relations, political and friendly communications. And we’ll continue all those this year.”
The local government was also trying to strengthen relations with China.
“We have close cooperation with the Confucius Institute and universities. We provide commercial buildings for Chinese enterprises to settle in Duisburg,” Link said.
Attracting Chinese investment was an economic priority.
“Our next plan is to open a Chinese business center in Duisburg,” he said.
Economic ties grew fast. By 2019, over one thousand Chinese companies set up businesses there. Meanwhile, over 1000 NRW companies entered mainland China.
Belt and Road
As part of the Belt and Road Initiative, China helped build railways that directly connected the city to China.
Every week before the virus pandemic, nearly 40 trains carrying goods from Chinese cities like Wuhan and Chongqing arrived in Duisburg.
“All trains setting out from China, whether they are heading to England or Spain, would pass by Duisburg,” Erich Staake, CEO of Duisport, told Chinese state media in 2017.
In 2018, the city of Duisburg signed a smart city partnership with telecom giant HUAWEI. The city allowed the Chinese military-linked company to build its WIFI network, traffic management and e-government cloud solutions, ignoring concerns it was handing over public data to a company backed by a totalitarian regime.
But now the CCP virus is showing Belt and Road countries the danger of relying on the Chinese regime.
According to a Reuters report, the Duisburg port said the virus has already led to significant drops in their trading volumes.
The state of NRW now has over 4000 cases of the virus.
Major automobile companies in Germany including Audi and BMW are also suspending production, putting countless jobs at risk.
