Asia

Asia

In China, a European executive becomes an increasingly rare critical voice

08 October 2022 04:34 (UTC +04:00)

As China clamps down on dissent and the space for engagement with authorities or airing of critical views shrinks, German executive Joerg Wuttke has become increasingly conspicuous for his outspokenness, APA reports citing Reuters.

A four-decade China resident, Wuttke has been especially vocal this year as president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China in calling out Beijing over the mounting economic toll of a zero-COVID policy that has caused frequent lockdowns and all but shut the country's borders.

A chamber report last month warned zero-COVID showed "ideology is trumping the economy" - criticism that was especially noteworthy in the run-up to this month's congress of China's ruling Communist Party, where Xi Jinping is expected to secure a third leadership term.

"In a way I have never had to use this kind of language, because there was not a necessity for it," said Wuttke, 63, who is an executive at German chemicals giant BASF.

"But now this kind of echo chamber about 'we are such a success, the West goes down, the East is rising' actually makes me speak up louder to wake them up and say 'guys, we are not on a good track here'," he told Reuters.

Wuttke said he mixes loud praise for policies the European chamber supports, such as China's commitment to carbon neutrality, with pointed criticism and constant outreach to reform-minded officials.