A Norwegian in Shanghai – Statement

In Shanghai, you can almost smell money. At least you can see them. Along the river promenade The Bund is the old money in art deco buildings on one side, on the other, neon-lit skyscrapers have sprung up in recent decades. This is a world metropolis for finance and trade. In rain and fog, it was a dramatic and magnificent backdrop for Prime Minister Støre’s closing day in China. In the evening, he got a guided tour about Norwegians in Shanghai through history. With the exception of dominance in the international rowing club quite a long time ago, I don’t think I’m offending anyone by saying that none of us have made an indelible impression on the city, even if Nordahl Grieg wrote some fine poems here. A common thread is that Norwegians who have lived here have been involved in shipping and trade. China dominates In that sense, there is a kind of connection in Støre’s visit, because early the next day the prime minister went to a shipyard a couple of hours’ drive outside Shanghai. International shipping has long since outgrown what there is room for inside the city. Støre traveled to the giant shipyard CMHI, which is located on more open seas, to take part in the christening of Höegh Boreali. An enormous ship that is a kind of floating parking garage for over 9,000 cars that can be transported from Asia to Europe. It is packed with environmentally friendly technology in an otherwise emission-heavy industry. It is one of twelve ships that the Oslo-based shipping company has built in China, and a collaboration between a Norwegian maritime technology company and the Chinese shipyard. China dominates this market and it is a long-term agreement the shipping company has entered into. Reportedly, China is the only country capable of building ships of these dimensions. A prime minister’s time is measured in gold, and in total he and his entourage spent around five hours on a blocked highway to make it happen. This visit was therefore something that the Norwegian delegation really prioritized. HIGH PRIORITY: Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Vice President of Höegh Autoliners, Andreas Waage Enger, on board the newly christened car transporter Höegh Borealis at the China Merchants Heavy Industry (CMHI) shipyard in Jiangsu, China. Photo: Heiko Junge / NTB Thrives in the format Støre was able to demonstrate with this that cooperation with China in certain fields is good. The fact that he also received signaled support for Norwegian business in the run-up to the upcoming election campaign is probably also part of the assessment. Støre was on home soil, both during the tour of the ship and in the meeting with the Chinese leaders. This is a format he both masters and thrives in. It is still not entirely easy. Because if Støre looked out of the window on the way to the shipyard, he saw black-clad guards at every street corner in the small towns his cortege drove through. Some looked after the traffic, others just stood with their backs to the fields. I find it difficult to see that there were any obvious threats against the Norwegian entourage, but in authoritarian states you don’t take chances. It was a clear reminder that China can very well build Norwegian ships, but here no one is allowed to freely say what they think or do what they want. Indeed, Shanghai is a city of money, shipping and trade, but it is also something else. It is also the place where the Chinese Communist Party held its first congress. In the old industrial area where this happened, there is now a state-of-the-art museum to mark the event. Xi’s tight grip It might have been a lot with a Norwegian prime minister’s visit to such a political museum, but it is instructive to have been there. When I visited the museum the following day, I was joined by a large group of party cadres and bureaucrats who were schooled in the party’s understanding of history. TOUR: Party cadres and bureaucrats at the museum in Shanghai. Photo: Fang Yongbin / news The museum paints a picture of a China at war with the West, where the Communist Party, in cooperation with Russia in the initial phase, lifted China out of poverty and humiliation into prosperity and power. And it is not a dead and gone story, it points into today’s China under the leadership of Xi Jinping. In the museum’s last room before the exit, a speech by today’s all-powerful leader is shown on a huge video screen. BIG SCREEN: Xi speaks on a big screen in the last room of the exhibition at the museum of the First Congress of the Communist Party. Photo: Sigurd Falkenberg Mikkelsen / news Since he took over power, he has tightened his political grip on China and the country’s economy. This means that many international companies are now withdrawing from China. There has been too much politics and too little business. It has also become more difficult for Chinese people to start their own businesses and the economy is in difficulties. Wants green cooperation Støre’s visit takes place at the same time as China is working up to several European countries to avoid new tariffs. Norway is admittedly not a member of the EU, but can be useful in other ways. China is working systematically to ensure that it has allies in Europe that can prevent or moderate new tariffs on, among other things, cars. Støre was not alone in China. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez was also here. He is seen in the EU as someone who speaks for China and he eloquently advocated limiting new tariffs. China likes to use green technology to win European politicians over to its side, and it is precisely in this field that Støre wants more cooperation. Money and politics Where Støre was most clear during the visit was that China’s support for Russia and thus the war in Ukraine is a problem for our relationship. He said that publicly, also side by side with China’s leader. Støre experienced being listened to in the subsequent conversation with Xi. He is not the first European leader to have the same impression, but there is nothing to suggest that China will change its policy. At the same time as Støre was in China, China’s foreign minister was in Russia and spoke with Vladimir Putin. China and Russia are planning a joint military exercise, and next month Xi Jinping will once again go to Russia, this time in connection with a Brics meeting. LENIN: Russian history is intertwined with Chinese history in an exhibition at the museum of the First Congress of the Communist Party in Shanghai. Photo: Fang Yongbin / news Norwegian and other Western security services warn, as is well known, that the pair of horses Russia and China want to change the world order, and are a threat to our interests. The US this week accused China of directly supporting Russia’s “war machine”. No country can or will isolate itself from China, the world’s second largest economy. China must be involved in solving global issues and crises, above all the climate crisis. It is still no easy task to distinguish between good and possible harmful cooperation. Money and politics are connected, especially in a communist-run one-party state. Published 14.09.2024, at 12.35 p.m



ttn-69