Foreign Minister Scandal: Beijing is foaming with anger over Baerbock’s punishment

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China has sharply criticized German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (42) for calling Chinese President Xi Jinping (70) a ‘dictator’. Baerbock’s statements were “extremely absurd and a serious violation of China’s political dignity and an open political provocation,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning (50) said on Monday.

Beijing is “very dissatisfied” and will protest to the German side through diplomatic channels. The Chinese government has summoned the German ambassador.

Baerbock only responds briefly to the criticism from China. “I have taken note of this,” the minister said during a visit to New York on the occasion of the general UN debate. She declined to comment further on the subject.

Scholz keeps his feet still

Last Thursday, during her visit to the US, Baerbock spoke in an interview with the American broadcaster Fox News about the war in Ukraine and said: “If Putin were to win this war, what a sign that would be for other dictators, the world like Xi, like the Chinese president? That is why Ukraine must win this war.”

Chancellor Olaf Scholz (65) did not want to comment on the statements of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. “In principle, the Chancellor does not assess the statements of his cabinet colleagues,” said deputy government spokesman Wolfgang Büchner (57) in Berlin. It is clear “that China is ruled by a one-party communist regime, and it is also clear that this does not match our ideas of democracy.”

Asked whether the chancellor believed that Baerbock’s statements had damaged relations with China, Büchner replied: “I don’t want to speculate about that.”

Official defends Fox visit

In July, the federal government issued comprehensive guidelines for dealing with China for the first time and adopted its China Strategy after months of debates within the coalition. This should show a way in which Germany can further expand its economic and political cooperation with the Asian superpower without endangering its own values ​​and interests. China is Germany’s most important trading partner.

There is no mention of China as a ‘dictatorship’ in the strategy document. “The China strategy is primarily focused on us,” a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Monday. The People’s Republic remains a “partner, competitor and systemic rival” for Germany.

The State Department spokesperson defended the fact that Baerbock gave an interview to the right-wing broadcaster Fox News during her visit to the US. For Baerbock, the visit was “explicitly” about using “channels through which you could reach a population that you simply cannot reach with, for example, an interview in the New York Times.” (AFP/bab)

Source: Blick