German leader's visit to China shows cracks in US strategy

I don't see why that would be necessary. Scholz so far has done pretty much everything the US and EU have wanted him to do. He is one of the weakest and most pliable leaders any European country has ever had. His government has helped the US get away with the biggest attack against German energy infrastructure since WW2. I don't know if it's because the US has dirt on all of them or because they're true believers in the Euro-Atlanticist project or just weak, but we're approaching borderline comprador behavior in our political class in Germany and i think the US wants to keep it that way. The current trajectory probably suits them just fine, why have unnecessary political upheaval?

For now Germany is allowed to make these diplomatic overtures toward China to placate what is left of its industrialist class, but once things heat up between the US and China and the order comes down from Washington or Brussels to ditch all ties to China no German government will disobey. If i were China i would be asking myself why even bother to make any deals with Germany now when it all could be thrown into the garbage tomorrow?