Englisch of the Day: Guarantee

This is an assurance that another’s obligation will be fulfilled, or something presented as such security; guaranty. In this case, they mean with taxpayer money.

And the guarantee is that the Germany economy is guaranteed to fall flat on its face if the German government continues its odd obsession with remaining dependent on China as a business partner. It’s recent dependency on Russan gas was just that much fun, I guess.

German guarantees for China investments plummet -document.

The volume of investment guarantees provided by the German government to companies investing in China has collapsed this year, a government document showed, highlighting the impact of Berlin’s efforts to end over-reliance on the country.

Only 51.9 million euros ($56.26 million) in guarantees have been issued so far this year, according to the document seen by Reuters, less than a tenth of the 745.9 million euros in guarantees issued over the whole of last year.

Russia’s Economy Growing More Than Germany’s

Which isn’t hard to do. Germany’s economy isn’t growing at all.

Let’s call it the German Green New Deal.

Germany expected to be only major economy not to grow this year – According to the latest figures from the International Monetary Fund, Germany’s GDP is forecast to drop 0.3% this year while other countries continue to grow.

The German economy is still failing to grow, figures showed on Friday, as the country that should be the industrial powerhouse for all of Europe struggles with high energy prices, rising borrowing costs and a lagging rebound from key trading partner China…

In Germany, the economy has been buffeted by several challenges. Above all, its long-term dependence on Russian natural gas to fuel industry backfired when the invasion of Ukraine led to the loss of most of Moscow’s supply and to higher costs for energy-intensive industries such as metals, glass, cars and fertilizer.

Just like Germany reduced its dependency on Russian gas…

Before the war in Ukraine. Not.

What could possibly go wrong this time? China being Germany’s biggest trade partner, I mean.

German industry urges reduced dependency after China export controls –
German industry on Tuesday warned that Europe must become more self-reliant in the hunt for raw materials needed for cleaner, more digital economies, after China caused alarm by announcing restrictions on some metals used for semiconductors.

China’s commerce ministry said on Monday it would require export permits for eight gallium products and six germanium products from Aug. 1 to protect national security.

German Of The Day: Selbstversorgung

That means self-sufficiency.

The Big Dig: Germany reopens its mines in quest for mineral self-sufficiency – Berlin wants to reduce its dependence on China by extracting more critical raw materials, such as fluorspar, at home.

“If we really want a revolution in transport and the resources needed for that, there’s no way around this project.”

German Of The Day: Abhängigkeit

That means dependency.

In this case, being dependent on China.

Germany planning to ban Huawei, ZTE from parts of 5G networks.

There is no evidence that China is spying with the help of the telecom equipment suppliers’ technology. Nevertheless, they are to be banned from the 5-G network – for fear of dependencies.

Expert At Losing Bets Waxes Poetic On Gambling

If the Germans don’t know about losing energy bets, nobody does. Old Vlad better listen up.

Putin has gambled away gas leverage, says German vice-chancellor – Robert Habeck says ‘half of our eggs were in the basket of Putin’ but Germany is now recovering capacity.

Vladimir Putin has gambled away his gas leverage over Europe, Germany’s vice-chancellor has claimed as he sounded a note of cautious optimism over his country’s energy supplies during a visit to Norway.

German Of The Day: Selbstzufriedenheit

That means complacency or smugness.

A long and highly valued German state of mind.

I still recall the sardonic, patronizing response I received in the German Chancellery around 2010, when I tried to warn my interlocutors about the danger of Russian hybrid warfare tactics—the cocktail of disinformation, economic coercion, subversion, espionage, and threats of force that Russia uses against its neighbors. “You are not seriously saying that Russia would conduct these operations against the Federal Republic of Germany?” my hosts asked, incredulously.

“Duh, yes,” I replied.

Scholz publicly hankers for a return to Europe’s “pre-war peace order,” suggesting that the lessons of 2022 have yet to sink in.

No Wa-Way

Wa-Way. As in Huawei. It’s the German way.

Germany is (still) a Huawei hotspot in Europe – Europe’s largest economy Germany hasn’t kicked its habit of using Chinese kit for its 5G telecoms networks yet.

A new study analyzing Huawei’s market share in Europe estimates that Germany relies on Chinese technology for 59 percent of its 5G networks. Other key markets including Italy and the Netherlands are also among eight countries where over half of 5G networks run on Chinese equipment.

Try To Remember…

The kind of December
When gas was there and temps so mellow…

Nobody said “saving the planet” would be easy.

Snow covers Germany amid gas crunch – As Germany experienced its coldest December in a decade, the government implored residents to exercise restraint on turning up the heat.

“Germany is still very, very far from having its gas needs totally covered for the next two years. Because of this, in spite of the cold, I implore you to exercise restraint with gas use.”

German Of The Day: Blackout

That means blackout.

Blackout risk – Germany’s gas storage facilities are 94 percent full, but the level is steadily declining in view of the cold weather.

“Everyone is preparing for it…” He pleads for a factual discussion without scaremongering, but warns against possible acts of sabotage – and explains what emergency supplies citizens should stock up on in case of an emergency.