Business with Beijing, detente with Moscow: West Germany's China policy in a global context, 1969-1982

In: Cold war history, Band 14, Heft 2, S. 237-257

Abstract

China's re-entry into the international community in the 1970s created important opportunities for trade-dependent European states such as the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG). At the same time Bonn did not want to risk the gains of Ostpolitik by openly collaborating with the Soviets' arch-enemies in Beijing. The following article argues that while never questioning the priority of detente in Europe, the FRG eventually succeeded in forging close relations with China by focusing on areas of cooperation that were below the radar of Cold War politics, such as small-scale projects of technical assistance, student exchange, and regional cooperation through the German Lander. Adapted from the source document.