"There are many things that make Alice Weidel an unconventional leader for a German political party on the hard right. Though her marriage to a Sri Lankan-born woman draws most attention, many in government and business circles are equally intrigued by the time she spent in China before entering politics. Ms Weidel lived there for about six years from around 2006, and learned to speak Mandarin before moving home and joining the Alternative for Germany (afd) party in 2013.
She started out in China on a German government scholarship and stayed to write a doctoral thesis on its pension system, entitled “Reform options from a regulatory-theory perspective to increase risk resistance”. Even more unusually for a German politician, she is also reported to have worked for the state-owned Bank of China. And, though there are few public details about what exactly she did in that job, she has said that she learned much from her experience in China and wants to improve bilateral ties."
I just find this to be very interesting. China is really good at 4D chess.
China isn’t looking to export revolution or its values. All China wants from its international relations is natural resources and technology to copy to flow into China and markets for its manufactured goods.
And the average AFD voter seems to struggle with the 2D version. If you want to be a racist nationalist, at least support someone who isn’t bought by a foreign power.