Frank Sieren

Frank Sieren is a correspondent, bestselling author and documentary filmmaker who has lived in China for a decade and a half. He is a columnist for HANDELSBLATT and writes regularly in DIE ZEIT. The LONDON TIMES calls him an “authoritative China expert in Germany”. Frank Sieren reports first-hand on the rise of China.

Lecture topics Frank Sieren

Out of the brakes – The end of Western dominance
An era is coming to an end. That of Western dominance. China and the Global South are challenging the USA and Europe. Now the up-and-coming countries have the power to do so. The world is at a crossroads. Will the authoritarian world power China soon rule or will a multipolar world order with more global co-determination emerge? Is this upheaval possible without a world war? And what does this mean for us, the West, democracy, our economy and our values?

Future? China.
The new China: most important partner and toughest competitor. What makes the new superpower so successful? How much is Europe, even Germany, losing touch, both economically and politically? The Middle Kingdom is ambitious, fast, innovative, well organized and no longer lets us tell it what to do. For the first time in centuries, an Asian country is now becoming a world power. It is now even questioning our values, which we consider to be universal. The Chinese are investing in natural resources, infrastructure and key industries on every continent. They are also buying into Germany. How is China challenging us directly? What does the new superpower mean for us? China is both an opportunity and a threat for us. We underestimate China’s power. China already has more influence on our lives than Google, Facebook & Co.

The China shock
How the Chinese are now taking the global lead in e-cars and autonomous driving for the first time in a key German technology. That makes even Tesla look old. This new technological world order is having a dramatic impact on us, the country of car manufacturers, and the German hidden champions. The German automotive industry is now facing the biggest challenge in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany. The Germans are too expensive, too slow and not innovative enough. Because China wants it that way, nothing in Germany will stay the same.

Life in China
Why you don’t become Chinese even after 30 years in China. After 30 years in the US, I would probably say I’m an American of German descent. And that wouldn’t surprise or bother anyone. However, it would never occur to me to say that I am Chinese of German origin, and that is not only because it is difficult and not particularly attractive internationally to exchange a German passport for a Chinese one. It is also because China is not an immigration country. The Chinese would look at me with wide eyes and possibly even laugh if I said I was Chinese of German origin. And so my home has long been China. My home remains Germany. But by looking at what the Chinese do differently every day, I learn a lot about the strengths and weaknesses of our culture. My conclusion: cooperation is always better than confrontation. It is not wise to consider one’s own point of view as the only valid one when it comes to anchoring one’s own values in the new multipolar world order.

China-Russia
How Beijing and the BRICs are tying Putin down and using him for their own interests. While the West cannot really weaken the Russians with ever stricter sanctions (GDP up 2.2 percent according to the World Bank, EU 1 percent), we are simultaneously driving them further and further into the arms of the Chinese. People in Beijing are astonished at so much European short-sightedness. Putin already has to do what Beijing and the other BRICS countries want. The BRICS tactic of not isolating or even ousting Putin, but making him so dependent that he can no longer take a single international step on his own, has worked. Putin miscalculated with the war of aggression. He can no longer free himself from this embrace.

EU-China
How Beijing is winning over more and more dissatisfied EU countries and dividing Europe. Brussels is already barely able to speak to China with a united voice. The EU tariffs against Chinese cars were decided, but only against the resistance of Germany, the EU’s largest economic power. While Brussels takes its cue from the USA, Hungary has long since become the largest investment location for the Chinese in the EU. China has invested 30 billion there in recent years. The French cooperate more closely with China politically than the Germans. Germany, however, has much closer economic ties. If the EU does not soon find a policy that represents Europe’s interests and not those of the USA, it will be difficult to maintain its geopolitical influence.

China’s return as a global innovation power
Why China is rapidly becoming more and more innovative. Artificial intelligence is the biggest focus. The fourth industrial revolution, in which the Chinese are preparing to overtake the West, will change the world dramatically. And whoever is at the forefront will play a decisive role in determining the rules of the new technological world order. In Germany too. As a result, this also means more power when it comes to the global rules of the game.

The new power of Xi Jinping
How China’s President Xi Jinping is opening up China’s economy, making it more innovative and privatizing it, but at the same time harassing and ideologizing civil society. Xi fights corruption with all his might, but at the same time continues to expand his power.

He promotes environmental protection like no other top politician in the world, and yet 60 percent of the country’s electricity comes from coal.

He is modernizing the country with AI and perfecting the surveillance of the masses and individuals. The 3rd Plenum, the party’s plan for the next 5 years, states: Even among intellectuals who are CP members, the “mechanisms for political guidance are to be optimized”.

The CP wants to “initiate a systemic change in the mainstream media”, with the aim of “improving the guidance mechanism for shaping public opinion” and “the coordination apparatus for responding to the public opinion climate”.

However, Xi also wants a fairer legal system: violations of the law such as “unlawful usurpation of advantage through abuse of power”, “unlawful deprivation of liberty” or “confessions extracted through torture” must be punished according to the law. The CP wants to “achieve comprehensive coverage of the defense by lawyers in criminal law cases.” At the same time, however, it is about more “patriotic education”. Training in the ideals and convictions should become more regular and institutionalized. The “entire population” should be “encouraged to pay respect to heroes, commemorate martyrs and emulate pioneers” with the aim of “refining social morals, work ethics, family ethics and individual morals.” This contradicts Western values.

Xi is a highly ambivalent politician in a contradictory country, and not just by Western standards. The economy has even greater opportunities to develop its innovative strength. Civil society has not had such a tight rein for a long time. Whether we like it or not, Xi is not only shaping China’s future. While we are analyzing and criticizing him, he is also changing Germany.

The New Silk Road
How Beijing is tying Asia, Africa and the rest of the world closer together. The aim is to systematically open up new growth markets – at the expense of the USA and Europe. The BRI, the Belt and Road Initiative, is the world’s largest infrastructure project since the construction of the Great Wall, with a total investment of one trillion euros. Over 151 countries are now involved. It was only founded in 2013. A network in which China can assert its interests. Even interests that do not coincide with ours. The West has nothing of equal value to counter this, although many countries would like to have the choice. But the USA and Europe can’t manage it. This is another reason why the global balance of power is shifting more and more towards China.

From copiers to inventors
How China is evolving from the world’s factory to a global innovation cluster. The days of copying are coming to an end, the advances in creativity and innovation, in research and development are enormous. The Chinese are thus attacking the core of the German economic miracle. China is once again on its way to becoming the world power of innovation that it was centuries ago. A powerful new competitor is making life difficult for German SMEs.

China in Asia
Between provocation and cooperation. China is openly expanding its power in the South China Sea. The battle over Taiwan is coming to a head. Beijing supports North Korea against US troops in South Korea. China and India are fighting militarily over their common border. China digs the the Mekong River from its southern neighbors. Japan and China do not see eye to eye. At the same time, however, Beijing is creating the world’s largest free trade zone with RCEP, and the ASEAN states in Asia are cooperating ever more closely with China. ASEAN, not the USA or Europe, is now China’s largest trading partner, and China is India’s largest trading partner. India’s exports to China are growing by over 8 percent. So are investments. Beijing is cooperating politically in BRICs more closely than ever with Delhi in order to expand the power of the Global South at the expense of the West.

The power struggle: China-USA
How the rising world power China is playing off the still leading world power USA even more skillfully. It is the great geostrategic power struggle of the early 21st century. Whereas in the past wars were fought to fight battles, today conflicts are fought more in the economic sphere: with trade and patent wars, company takeovers, in the battle for natural resources and more than one world currency. While the upstarts from Beijing are following a plan, the West is reacting frantically, gruffly and in disagreement.

China Africa – How China is tying Africa to itself
Nothing less than the world’s last major growth market is at stake: while we are still thinking about building wells and distributing development aid according to the watering can principle, China sees a continent on the verge of entering the 21st century. While we talk about neo-colonialism, Africans are voluntarily tying themselves ever closer to China. The fact is: Africa is becoming more dependent on China every day. But the main reason why this is possible is that there are no attractive alternatives from Europe and the USA. A long-term strategy would be worthwhile: The UN estimates that by 2050, the population in Africa will have more than doubled to 2.4 billion and half of the population will be under 25.

While China is courting African politicians and inviting the heads of state of over 51 countries to Beijing in 2024, promising 50 billion in investments and debt relief, the Europeans have little to offer. “Don’t come to Africa with solutions to your problems, come with solutions to our problems,” says South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. While China has a trade surplus of around 40 billion US dollars, the EU has a deficit of over 60 billion. Yet Africa is a huge growth market on Europe’s doorstep in the same time zone. It is already clear that without Africa, things will be tight for Europe.

With his SPIEGEL bestseller “Der China Code – Wie das boomende Reich der Mitte Deutschland verändert” (The China Code – How the Booming Middle Kingdom is Changing Germany), he has “initiated a long-overdue debate,” commented STERN. The book was translated into five languages, including Chinese. A heavily censored version appeared in the People’s Republic and an uncensored version in Taiwan. In September 2011, Sieren presented his latest analysis of China, “Fear of China.” “Gripping and at the same time rich in facts,” was the verdict of the Süddeutsche Zeitung.

Frank Sieren’s analyses also convinced Helmut Schmidt. The former German chancellor allowed the author insight into the previously unpublished transcripts of his numerous conversations with Chinese leaders. Helmut Schmidt was the last living German to have met Mao. The book “Neighboring China” emerged from these unique experiences in conversation with Sieren. Immediately after its publication it was placed on the bestseller lists and has also been published in Chinese.

Frank Sieren also deals with the dramatic global changes in documentary films.

His 45-minute ZDF reportage “Und ewig lockt das Öl – Chinas Griff nach Afrika”, was broadcast in 2007 on the occasion of the G8 summit and achieved a market share of over 10 percent. His film “Peking Opera on the Persian Carpet”, about the complicated relationship between China and Iran, also ran successfully on ZDF in the fall of 2008. In the summer of 2009, Frank Sieren produced the documentary “Chinese in Porsche Fever – A Black Forest Journey with Up-and-Comers” for SWR. Most recently, ZDF showed his film “Nähen bis zum Umfallen? – mit deutschen Prüfern in Asien unterwegs” (“On the road with German inspectors in Asia”), in which he gets to the bottom of the question of working conditions in Asian factories. In February 2012, ARD broadcast his “Länder, Menschen, Abenteuer” documentary “Im Steppenwind.” The film tells the story of a Chinese-Mongolian ultralight pilot in Inner Mongolia who documents the changes in his changing homeland with impressive aerial photographs.

Frank Sieren is also the host of the Beijing-produced international talk show “Asiatalk” in German and English, which was broadcast on DW-TV.

Back in 2008, “Der China-Schock – Wie Peking sich die Welt gefügig macht” (The China Shock – How Beijing is Making the World Compliant) was published, which also made it onto the Spiegel bestseller list. “A brilliant book,” notes the SÜDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG, and the FINANCIAL TIMES DEUTSCHLAND praises: “Frank Sieren pleasantly stands out from the competition. He doesn’t fall for numbers porn (‘ten percent growth – in one month’), but analyzes China’s global strategies. Sieren’s narrative style is solid and unpretentious. A reportage from the front lines of the global economy.” China Shock” landed at No. 1 on the German bestseller list for business books.

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