Visit to China
Scholz urges Xi to be more committed to peace in Ukraine
April 16, 2024, 8:16 a.m
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Chancellor Scholz is in China and also wants to discuss with President Xi “how we can contribute more to a just peace in Ukraine.” Xi remains silent on this matter, but indirectly declares that he does not interfere in internal affairs. The CDU politician Spahn also visits China and gives advice.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz wants to encourage China to play a more active role in Russia’s war against Ukraine. He wanted to discuss with China’s President Xi Jinping “how we can contribute more to a just peace in Ukraine,” said Scholz in Beijing at the start of a meeting with Xi. “The Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and Russia’s rearmament have significant negative effects on security in Europe. They directly affect our core interests.”
The background is allegations from Western governments that China does not support Russia with weapons, but with so-called dual-use goods that can be used for civilian purposes but that Russia is supposed to use for its war of aggression. Scholz warned that the attack “indirectly” damaged the entire international order. Because he disregards the principle of the UN Charter that state borders should not be violated. Both Xi and he have already made it clear that Russia should not even threaten to use nuclear weapons. Like Russia, China is a permanent member of the UN Security Council.
Chinese President Xi Jinping did not address the issue during the welcoming speech. He only said in general terms that relations with Germany would continue to develop as long as both sides respected each other and sought “common ground”, even if there were still differences. This is seen as a formulation with which China prohibits interference in internal affairs and, for example, criticism of the human rights situation in the country.
“We need to look at and develop bilateral relations from a long-term and strategic perspective.” Xi emphasized the positive development of bilateral relations and their international significance. “China and Germany are the second and third largest economies in the world.” The development of relations has “important implications for the Asian-European continent and even the entire world.” Together we will ensure more stability and security in the world.
Scholz: Nobody should have to be afraid of neighbors
In a debate with Chinese students in Shanghai on Monday, Scholz said that both in private life and between countries, no one should be afraid of a big, strong neighbor. This was an allusion to China’s conflicts with its neighbors in the South China Sea.
The Chancellor also wants to meet Prime Minister Li Qiang this Tuesday and take part in a German-Chinese business meeting. Scholz will be accompanied on his three-day trip by a business delegation. Before Beijing, he visited the cities of Chongqing and Shanghai. Scholz was last in China in November 2022, and bilateral government consultations took place in Berlin in 2023.
Before his trip, Scholz had pointed out that his visit would be based on the new China strategy, which takes a much more critical tone towards Beijing for geopolitical reasons and because of domestic political developments in China. In Shanghai he insisted on equal competitive conditions for German companies. In Beijing, before the conversation with Xi, he pointed out that Germany and China, as exporting nations, benefited from the rules of the World Trade Organization. This was a reference to criticism of Chinese excess capacity entering global markets. A number of countries and the EU accuse China of unfair competition.
German car manufacturers warn of trade dispute
The heads of the two German car companies BMW and Mercedes warned of a trade dispute, for example over Chinese electric cars in Europe. “What we can’t use as an export nation are increasing trade barriers,” Mercedes boss Ole Källenius told ARD in Beijing about the EU’s investigation into whether there is unfair competition from Chinese electric cars. “The best protection is to be competitive. And if you start putting up barriers to trade, first one and then the other, then that’s going in the wrong direction.”
Källenius, like BMW boss Oliver Zipse, described China as an opportunity rather than a risk. With a view to Scholz’s visit, Källenius said that the German-Chinese economic relationship not only had to be maintained, but also expanded. “Withdrawing from such a large market is not an alternative, but rather we are expanding our position,” he said of his company’s strategy in China. BMW is already positioned worldwide, which is the best strategy to minimize dependencies on one market, said Zipse about political demands for diversification.
Spahn also in China – criticism of the Chancellor
Jens Spahn, the vice-president of the Union parliamentary group responsible for economic policy, is also currently in China. He accused Scholz of not having a clear strategy for dealing with China. “We cannot in good conscience leave China policy to this traffic light and this chancellor,” said the CDU politician on the sidelines of his five-day trip to China. He wants to speak to representatives of politics, business, media and civil society and, in addition to Beijing, also visit the eastern Chinese coastal city of Qingdao.
“The German economic crisis is being closely monitored in China. China takes us seriously because we are economically strong,” said Spahn, adding: “The voice of a chancellor in a downturn is losing weight.” The conditions for Germany as an industrial location have never been as bad as they are now. That’s why an economic turnaround is urgently needed. “Sovereignty comes from our own strength, not from demarcation and decoupling,” criticized the CDU politician with a view to Scholz. Spahn’s delegation on the China trip includes MPs Serap Güler, Mark Helfrich, Paul Ziemiak and Nicolas Zippelius.