Markus Lanz’s speech on the federal government’s plans to legalize cannabis, a perspective on the mid-term elections in the United States, and expectations about Chancellor Scholz’s upcoming trip to China.
Hamburg – On November 1, 2022, two major topics have emerged scheduled with Markus Lanz on ZDF. On the one hand, it was about China and how Germany behaves or should behave towards this country in economic expansion. On the other hand, about cannabis and the government’s proposal to legalize its use by adults in Germany. Discussions with the three studio guests were animated. Health Minister Karl Lauterbach was overwhelmed by the critical arguments from moderator Markus Lanz and the two journalists Kerstin Münstermann and Elmar Theveßen. However, Lauterbach held up well in the face of this cross-examination.
Initially, the head of the ZDF foreign study for East Asia, Miriam Steimer, was added to the ZDF program. You reported that the partial sale of a plant in the port of Hamburg to the Chinese company Cosco is being negotiated in China as a great political success. The announcement of a personal visit by Chancellor Olaf Scholz exploited propaganda in the country for itself. “It is a great gift from Scholz”, she said, “with it the Chancellor is consolidating German-Chinese relations”. While the US is seen as an open enemy, “All evil comes from there,” explained Steimer, “the Germans are perceived positively”. This also has a very concrete effect on journalistic work, as American colleagues are much more likely to be stoned. so.
Markus Lanz (ZDF): You make yourself addicted to China
For the journalist Elmar Theveßen present, Scholz’s position in the case of China is not really compatible with the Chinese strategy of the German government. Lauterbach yielded enough to define Scholz’s communication on the Cosco issue as “unfortunate”, while the journalist Münstermann called it “catastrophic”. Theveßen has painted a grim picture of the future if China continues to “intrude” on various markets in Europe and the rest of the world. It makes us more and more susceptible to blackmail and dependent on China, he said.
Lauterbach argued in a different direction with Markus Lanz. “Scholz is trying to keep a stable but not uncritical axis between Germany and China, I don’t think that’s stupid,” he said. “If we want to grow, we need China”. However, it is important to convey to China the following: “We want trade, but let’s not be stupid, let’s see what happens to you.” In this sense, it is crucial that Scholz, when he begins his visit for treaty negotiations, the violations of human rights in China must “articulate”.
Markus Lanz (ZDF): Karl Lauterbach points out the contradictions
He is also convinced that China’s importance will diminish in the future if the production of various things such as recyclable materials for medicines or even microchips is soon managed in Europe. Due to constant technological progress, you will also be less and less dependent on certain raw materials such as magnesium. Lauterbach also pointed out that, in his opinion, China is less important as a scientific site than is generally thought. “There are very few high-level foreign scientists working in China, but many high-level Chinese scientists from China in the West.”
Not without justification, Lauterbach also highlighted a glaring contradiction in Markus Lanz’s ZDF program: “I think it’s hypocritical if we all have an iPhone in our pocket and then start thinking about how it’s produced.” Münstermann also supported this view. There are fears that China could gain data and access if, for example, holdings in Western ports and companies grow. But everyone is already using a service like Tik Tok, which belongs to a Chinese company and is already leveraging data.
Markus Lanz is wrong: “The US does not need anyone or anything”
Such a differentiated argument was not the business of Markus Lanz himself, nor of the host Theveßen. The two have continued to return to the United States, which is exemplary in taking a hard line against China as a trading partner. The US has figured out where Chinese involvement is most dangerous and is preventing it, Theveßen said. In this context, moderator Markus Lanz got carried away by a rather clumsy and false statement: “The US is the most independent country on the planet, it needs nothing or anyone”. From the somewhat hesitant reactions of those present, it was believed that there was still a small question mark on Lanz’s forehead. Theveßen was the only one who reacted and softened the observation a bit. At least the United States was doing everything it could to become completely independent, he said.
| Karl Lauterbach | Minister of Health |
| Kerstin Munsterman | Journalist |
| Elmar Thevessen | Journalist |
| Miriam Steiner | Journalist |
But what was missing from the whole discussion was a more critical stance towards the US. Then there was a tiny subordinate clause in the last quarter of the show, which would have been absolutely necessary for a serious flow of arguments: “But the Americans didn’t do anything else,” Theveßen said. And he meant that the United States has been interfering just as ruthlessly economically, and therefore inevitably politically, in all parts of the world for decades when it was worth it for their purposes. This is where we should have started further.
But then the group turned to the topic of cannabis. Lauterbach’s comments on the planned partial drug legalization were not clear to those present. “Legalization as a prevention program,” Münstermann said, was incomprehensible. “We limit consumption by making it legal”, but it can’t work. Lauterbach explained that legalization would dry up the black market. The goal is to protect children and young people, because currently there is an increase in consumption and a growing concentration of the substance. “Legalization serves to limit consumption among young people, it serves to limit damage,” he said.
It is known that young people between the ages of 18 and 25 experience organic brain changes due to consumption, which lead to irreparable damage and an increased risk of mental illness. In the Markus Lanz program on the ZDF, no one doubted that consumption should be curbed, but those present were not convinced of the effectiveness of the planned measure. (Teresa Vena)
