SPD looks to Uzbekistan for Afghanistan deportations +++ Spiegel profiles BYD
Thursday 20th June
Good morning.
I’m picking up two of yesterday’s themes again. First, given Olaf Scholz’s meeting today with the heads of the Bundesländer, I continue a look at coverage of the SPD’s attempts to find a way of repatriating migrants convicted of serious crimes (including those granted asylum) to countries such as Syria and Afghanistan. Then there’s a review of an article in this week’s Der Spiegel which covers BYD, newly famous in Germany for its big ad campaign during the Euros.
Destination: Tashkent
The Süddeutsche Zeitung, Germany’s equivalent of the Guardian, continues to explore the SPD’s proposals on migrant deportations and repatriations. Part of the conversation revolves around the ‘Rwanda model’ (outsourcing the asylum system entirely to a third country), noted for its attractivness to many given its potential for ‘deterrent’, but which Scholz is said to believe to be ‘impracticable’ (the UK govt’s lack of success thus far is noted).
Another idea on the table is the ‘Albania model’ (moving asylum processing, but still doing it yourself and granting successful asylum applicants leave to remain in Germany), recently agreed with Tirana by the Italians. This second idea is also dismissed as ‘complicated and expensive’, and lacking a ‘deterrent effect’. What the Federal Interior Ministry really wants, say the authors, is an EU-wide approach, but that gets you no closer to a practical solution.
In a second article, the SZ discusses the latest in the SPD’s attempts to start repatriations to Afghanistan. The article suggests that Uzbekistan, a country once known to the German government as a transfer point for German soldiers on their way to Afghanistan, is now being considered as a mediator for the deportation scheme. This comes after Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) suggested yesterday that negotiations with ‘neighbouring countries’ to Assad’s Syria and Taliban-run Afghanistan would enable the German government to avoid resuming diplomatic relations with either regime.
‘How do you pronounce it? “Bütt”?’
This week’s Spiegel has a long-read article on BYD, the Chinese automaker which has been gaining new heights of recognition with European audiences through its sponsorship of the ‘Euros’ football tournament currently being hosted in Germany. It suggests that, although the company is still a ‘dwarf’ in Europe (many Germans aren’t even sure how to pronounce BYD, going for “Bütt” instead of ‘Bi-Wai-Di’), it has long-sighted plans for continental domination.
Among the best details given here is the lengths executives of the company, which began as a specialist battery manufacturer have gone to in order to prove their prowess in this field.
Founder Wang (Chuangfu) once demonstrated just how important battery expertise is for the Group's identity with a striking act. According to the Wall Street Journal, when investment legend Warren Buffett, who has held a stake in BYD since 2008, sent an emissary to the headquarters in Shenzhen, the founder is said to have drunk from a glass of battery fluid in front of the emissary. He wanted to show the American how environmentally friendly his batteries were.
The article also covers how the recent news of high tariffs imposed by the EU on BYD and two other Chinese automakers, Geely and SAIC, will have little effect on the company’s models. BYD plans to sell its cars at nearly double the price in Europe than the current RRP in China.
“If the strategy works, BYD can easily pay the EU tariffs from the profits of its European business. The EU Commission is also prepared for this: It does not expect the punitive tariffs to increase the prices of e-cars, it says. In this scenario, a manufacturer like BYD would rather accept a lower profit margin than deter customers. This also means that the EU tariffs will not give Europe's car manufacturers a breather.”