I'm sure China would close its detention camps for Muslims if we'd sell them another 2 million cars. At 5m more cars they'll stop forced sterilizations of Uighurs. If we sell another 10 million cars the Chinese Communist Party will agree to free elections

https://www.politico.eu/article/peter-altmaier-defends-berlins-muted-response-to-chinas-crackdown-in-hong-kong-germany/

Few people understand this, but Germans do: The best way to confront an authoritarian regime is to ensure that it never faces any consequences for building detention camps for ethnic minorities or threatening allies or kidnapping people for political gain

Imposing costs on barbaric regimes for their barbaric behaviour through open criticism or targeted sanctions or a change in the bilateral relationship is actually counter-productive because it leads to a reduction in car sales and only continued car sales can lead to closed camps

What I still don't know is whether people genuinely believe this kind of thing or whether they just say it to mask the pursuit of short-term economic interests. I genuinely just don't know

/end