By Alexander Ratz
BERLIN (Reuters) – German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Wednesday described parts of her recent trip to China as “more than shocking” and said Beijing was increasingly becoming a systemic rival more than a trade partner and competitor.
The blunt remarks followed Baerbock’s visit to Beijing last week where she warned that any attempt by China to control Taiwan would be unacceptable.
Beijing claims democratically governed Taiwan as a Chinese province and has never ruled out the use of force to bring the island under its control.
Baerbock had also said China wanted to follow its own rules at the expense of the international rules-based order. Beijing in turn asked Germany to support Taiwan’s “reunification” and said China and Germany were not adversaries but partners.
Speaking to the German Bundestag (lower house of parliament) on Wednesday about her China trip, Baerbock said “some of it was really more than shocking”.
She did not elaborate on specifics, although her remark came after she said China was becoming more repressive internally as well as aggressive externally.
For Germany, she said, China is a partner, competitor and systemic rival, but her impression is now “that the systemic rivals aspect is increasing more and more”.
China is Germany’s largest trading partner, said Baerbock, but this did not mean Beijing was also Germany’s most important trading partner.
The German government wants to work with China but does not want to repeat past mistakes, for example the notion of “change through trade”, she said, that the West can achieve political shifts in authoritarian regimes through commerce.
Baerbock also said China had a responsibility to work towards peace in the world, in particular using its influence over Russia in the war in Ukraine.
She welcomed Beijing’s promise not to supply weapons to Russia, including dual use items, though added that Berlin would see how such a promise worked in practice.
In a departure from the policies of former chancellor Angela Merkel, Olaf Scholz’s government is developing a new China strategy to reduce dependence on Asia’s economic superpower, a vital export market for German goods.
(Writing by Matthias Williams; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
- Native Texan18 hours agoChina became a superpower by becoming the manufacturing center for the world. They got that way in no small part by the products they make for the thousands of American companies that laid off all their workers, closed their factories, and started having their products made in China to make bigger…See moreReply36933Share
- Flick17 hours agoHow about when the only product available, is made in China. Blame the politicians that make it all possible, with their demand for higher taxes and regulations that make no sense. I, try to buy made in USA, but the choices are limited.Reply17323Share
- P17 hours agoI agree 100% with your assessment. We are our own worst enemy. Similarly, Americans want cheap produce yet protest against illegal immigration. There is a cost to every decision.Reply15313Share
- Flick17 hours agoHow about when the only product available, is made in China. Blame the politicians that make it all possible, with their demand for higher taxes and regulations that make no sense. I, try to buy made in USA, but the choices are limited.Reply17323Share
- George22 hours agoNow that China has shown its true color (Xi is Putin of China), glad that EU is waking up to the reality. The earlier the better and EU better have a coherent, steadfast and disciplined approach to China and not let China insidiously divide and conquer. The best is that EU and US continue to have s…See moreReply37484ShareShow 32 more replies
- Ipsut11 hours agoChina has achieved it’s success solely due to Capitalism . Western Capitalists in search of maximising short term profits sold out the countries that gave them their start along with the workers in those countries, by moving their operations to take advantage of low labour costs in China. Patrioti…See moreReply121Share
- Don21 hours agoIt is so very amusing that so many are completely caught off guard by China’s behavior and attitude toward the rest of the world. After all, there have been plenty of people to warn us all with predictions that China was only manipulating events to meet her own agenda. Just because we signed agreem…See moreReply5714Share
- Zoomer13 hours agoUnbridled capitalism, fueled by greed, and legitimized by politicians, thanks to political lobbyists, drove manufacturing to China. Now we are fretting because it is an economic superpower, rapidly transitioning into a military superpower. Even Tesla has manufacturing plants in China. Corporate gr…See moreReply8Share
- Tom21 hours agoI traveled and worked extensively in East Asia during the China’s open door decades (1990’s-2000’s). Everyone back then hoped that China would become more and more moderate, paving the way for more democracy. That naive view is over with Xi. He is the biggest CCP emperor installed since Mao, and he…See moreReply8316Share
- Walter22 hours agoChina is ever so eager to have the west overlook and ignore the fact that China is an authoritarian communist state hostile to western democracy. A lot of that intentional ignorance is fueled by capitalist/corporate greed. Companies willing to aid and abet the Chinese state in order to have acces…See moreReply18234Share
- Kevin21 hours agoCapitalist/corporate greed is simply an extension of human greed. Getting rid of capitalism and corporations leaves you with greedy people. But if greed is wanting what’s best for yourself and your family then it’s really more human nature than greed. We are the ones buying lower priced goods. …See moreReply385Share
- Kevin21 hours agoCapitalist/corporate greed is simply an extension of human greed. Getting rid of capitalism and corporations leaves you with greedy people. But if greed is wanting what’s best for yourself and your family then it’s really more human nature than greed. We are the ones buying lower priced goods. …See moreReply385Share
- Krysium21 hours agoI know people who have been goign to china since the 1990s. The change in the youth is striking. After the one child policy, and improved lifestyles thanks to trade with the west, young chinese people are more indivdiusalistic as opposed to collectivist compared to older chinese.I think we achiev…See moreReply244Share
- Joshua21 hours agoSelf destruction of the human race seems like a foregone conclusion unless cooler heads prevail and concessions towards peace are made. These are scary of times. Reply353Share
- Zhao12 hours agoIf it were not China, very high probability one of German’s major auto makers would have ceased to exist around 2010. That would have given its American counterparts a much better chance to survive. We might still see the sporty Pontiac or futuristic Oldsmobile on the streets today instead of those…See moreReply142Share
- thats21 hours agothe greatest mistakes were for the west to help develop China’s technology by, for example, educating chinese students in the west, and thinking that Russia had changed after the fall of the iron curtain. Chinese were better off living as in Mao’s era. There should also have been warning bells abo…See moreReply3613Share
- Destiny2Peace19 hours agoRemember what Abe Lincoln told the British regarding getting involved in the American Civil war: “Lincoln appointed Charles Francis Adams as minister to Britain. An important part of his mission was to make clear to the British that the war was a strictly-internal insurrection and afforded the Conf…See moreReply186Share
- Kentucky Bob19 hours ago”… she warned that any attempt by China to control Taiwan would be unacceptable”. Don’t worry. China will attempt just once. There won’t be a second attempt.Reply294Share
- Freight22 hours agoAnnalena Baerbock has WAY more courage than the leader of the free world. She demonstrated it by warning that any attempt by China to control Taiwan would be unacceptable.Reply14844Share
- Murat19 hours agoWest was blinded by the size of the Chinese market. They eagerly embraced China into WTO and lavishly invested. China never intended to open its markets to anyone outside. Never. Their goal is domination. West was blinded by greed. Again.Reply233Share
- Barry22 hours agoHaving lived in China and speaking fluent Mandarin, I could have told her that years ago. Everyone was blinded by money and now that its almost too late, they are finally waking up.Reply5812Share
- Johannes18 hours agoGermany has made China a true manufactor in the world but it is and was German technology that made it possible. Now China copies the machines and everything else and does not conform to patents and rights of the companies that developed those machines. Germany is a great country and does not need …See moreReply144Share
- james20 hours agoChina is actively working on world domination while we sit back and debate genders in the US. We are done if we don’t get back to what made America strong.Reply323Share
- Tigerhaze22 hours agoThe U.S. should also move away from manufacturing goods in China….besides funding their war chest its also an opportunity for them to steal our technology or embed spy technology in goods coming here.Reply7114Share
- alk18 hours ago”international rules-based order” It doesn’t exist unless she means some country made those “rules” and wants others to follow them.Reply121Share
- Dehlia18 hours agoChina has been around in one form or another for 3,500 years. They know how to play the long game. And starting with NAFTA, they have been able to use the USA’s money to finance their world domination plan. Volatile currency? Nope, China decides what their money is worth. Human rights, privacy…
source : https://news.yahoo.com/germanys-foreign-minister-parts-china-125439362.html