For a long time, Germany’s political and business elites have chosen to ignore the economic threat emanating from Xi Jinping’s China. It’s now time to confront it.

Incoming German Chancellor Friedrich Merz wants to strengthen German industry, but his thinking is stuck in the past. The key question is how to make Germany and the EU thrive in the age of systemic competition.

With a new government being formed in Berlin, economic security and technology should be at the heart of a new National Security Council.

Germany and Europe need to focus their “de-risking” debate on technologies essential for the modernization of China’s military. Simultaneously, they should reduce dependencies more decisively.