German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt: Neighbor China

“What I saw at the Great Wall far exceeded my expectations. The landscape was unparalleled with this unique structure zigzagging down the valley and vanishing into the mist.”

This is the description of the Great Wall written by the German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt in his book: Neighbor China.

Chancellor Helmut Schmidt was an old friend of the Chinese people. He energetically led the Federal Republic of Germany to establish diplomatic relations with China and was the first German Chancellor to visit China.

On October 31, 1975, the third day of Schmidt’s visit to China, he and his wife set foot on the Badaling Great Wall in Beijing. "I paid my first visit on the invitation by Zhou Enlai to China in 1975. Everything was very old history, and old traditions. Partially sightseeing, to see the Chinese Wall for instance, quite impressive."

Adjacent to the sea in the east and the desert in the west, the Great Wall of China was built more than 2,000 years ago in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. It is an ancient architectural relic with the longest construction time and the widest geographical distribution in the world.

Known as one of the Seven Wonders of the Medieval World, the Great Wall is a great miracle created by the ancient Chinese that epitomizes the continuity, innovation, unity, inclusiveness, and peacefulness of the Chinese civilization.

Schmidt said that the Great Wall deepens my respect for Chinese culture.

An advanced civilization like China dates back to 4000 years ago, and thrives through time with the power that never withers."

Schmidt visited China more than ten times. The German Die Zeit once described him as a man who “loves China more than the Chinese.”

And his “view on China” is well stated in the title of his book, Neighbor China.

China and Germany are two countries located far apart with distinct histories and cultures. However, in Schmidt’s eyes, China, a distant Asian country, has overcome the barriers of geographical distance through its own development, and the idea of “neighboring countries” also means a community of shared future.