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Danish foreign minister defends China trip amid criticism from opposition

Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen is scheduled to travel to Shanghai and Beijing on Tuesday, where he will sign a new programme of cooperation between Denmark and the Asian superpower.

Published: 15 August 2023 09:10 CEST
Danish foreign minister defends China trip amid criticism from opposition
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen speaking to media in July. Rasmussen visits Shanghai and Beijing on Tuesday to sign a new international partnership agreement with China. Photo: Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix

Opposition parties on both the right and left wings have spoken critically about the visit, citing issues including China’s stance towards Taiwan, support of violent regimes and record on international treaties.

Rasmussen has stated that Denmark has had a “too naïve” approach to China in the past, but that it remains in the Nordic country’s interest to have a good relationship with Beijing.

The trip has meanwhile been backed by the Confederation of Danish Industry, which says that Denmark’s trade with China is crucial.

The libertarian right-wing party Liberal Alliance has criticised Rasmussen’s visit and said that China regularly fails to comply with international treaties, threatens Taiwan and the South China Sea passage for ships and is trying to exert itself in the Arctic region.

“We should be careful about becoming too dependent on states and regimes that don’t wish us well,” the party’s foreign spokesperson Henrik Dahl said.

The spokesperson said that the trade argument did not weigh heavily enough against the other concerns.

“You can also find examples in history that you shouldn’t be too busy trying to make money,” he said.

Three other parties – the national conservative Danish People’s Party and Denmark Democrats, and the centre-left SF – have also been critical of the visit by Rasmussen.

The former party’s leader Morten Messerschmidt told broadcaster TV2 that China “is flagrantly stealing our know-how and supports some of the worst regimes in the world”.

Rasmussen told news wire Ritzau that he was taking an open approach to the new partnership with China.

Although Denmark may have been too close to China previously according to Rasmussen, he also warned against now taking excessive distance.

“It’s not in Danish interests to shift from one position to the other. If we tended to be a bit too open 15 years ago, the lesson should not be that we are now too closed,” he said.

“If you had that approach to the rest of the world, that we would only work with those who are like us, you’d be left in a very small club,” he said.

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SOCIAL DEMOCRATS

EXPLAINED: How immigration speech has split Denmark’s Social Democrats

A speech about immigration and integration, given by a member of Denmark’s ruling Social Democrats in parliament, has caused an uproar among local party representatives but the party leadership, including Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, is sticking to its guns.

Published: 25 April 2024 17:03 CEST
EXPLAINED: How immigration speech has split Denmark’s Social Democrats

Internal dispute within Denmark’s Social Democrats has gained pace and drawn comments from Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, after one of the party’s MPs recently made a divisive speech in parliament.

Frederik Vad, who is the immigration spokesperson with the party, the senior partner in the coalition government, said earlier this month during a speech in parliament that Denmark’s immigration debate had to make an “admission”.

“That is an admission that work, education, a house, participation in associations and a clean criminal record are not enough on their own if you are also using your position to undermine Danish society from within,” Vad said.

“A parallel society is no longer a housing area in [underprivileged area] Ishøj. A could alos be a table at the canteen in a state agency or a pharmacy in [affluent] North Zealand,” he said, using the term used to refer to areas of the country subject to special integration laws.

To qualify as ‘parallel societies’, housing areas must have a population of more than 1,000 people, of which more than half are of “non-Western” origin, and must fulfil two of four criteria. For areas with fewer than 50 percent ‘non-Western’ populations, another term – ‘vulnerable area’ – is used instead.

The comments have received criticism from local Social Democratic politicians, initially more junior politicians such as town councillors and later gaining momentum with some city mayors speaking out against Vad, as reported by broadcaster DR.

“Frederik Vad is stigmatising a large part of the population that consists of well-educated, well-integrated and active citizens who contribute to Denmark every single day,” Musa Kekec, a Social Democratic member of the municipal council in Ballerup, told DR.

“We do not appreciate it. It is creating a new myth that integration has failed and that it’s no longer good enough to get an education, speak Danish, contribute to society and have a job – more is required,” he said.

Kekec is one of 18 elected local Social Democratic officials to have sent a letter to the party leadership earlier this week, objecting to Vad’s position.

“It’s important for us to show that we disagree with the rhetoric and suspicion being spread on the part of Frederik Vad,” Kekec said.

The internal conflict over the issue between parliamentary and local Social Democratic politicians is unusual in a party known for a culture in which all members loyally stick to the course set out by party leadership.

Merete Amdisen, the mayor of Ishøj – the municipality singled out by Vad in his comments – was the first mayor to publicly reject them, but several others have since added their voices to the dissent.

“I think you should think very carefully when you speak about people who go to work every single day, look after their children, integrate themselves in society and take part in our associations, in fact do everything we want them to, and who we also happen to need on our labour market,” Gladsaxe mayor Trine Græse told DR.

“I was actually offended – not personally, because I’m not in the target group. But when I heard what he said, I thought ‘that’s not a nice thing for him to say’,” she said.

“Christiansborg politicians should use their powerful voices with consideration and respect for others. Generalisations and pointing the finger at citizens with a different ethnic background as potentially dangerous are the wrong way to go,” the mayor of Furesø, Ole Bondo Christensen said.

In comments earlier this week, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said there was “full support” for Vad from the party leadership.

“There is an ongoing immigration debate within the Social Democrats and in Denmark, but the Social Democrats stand firm on the immigration policy that is currently being pursued in Denmark,” the PM told DR.

“I do not see any stigmatising comments from Frederik. I think he does a good job of pointing out that — of course — you cannot speak generally about everyone. On the contrary, many [immigrants] are doing very well. But those who, for example, commit crime, violence, or are members of [Islamist organisation] Hizb ut-Tahrir, are against our democracy. That is a lack of integration and we must then be able to discuss it,” she said.

Vad has not presented any data to support the claim that people of non-Western immigrant backgrounds with high levels of education and employment are involved in activities of the kind described by Frederiksen.

The junior Social Democratic MP defended his comments by saying they were not a deviation from the existing party line.

“That line is that we have a few problems in some pockets of our society with some people who are educated, have a job and a clean criminal record, yet bring some values ​​with them to work which are problematic,” he said to DR.

“It makes me sad if there are people in the party who think I said something wrong. Personally, I don’t think I have. I made a nuanced statement,” he said.

“People who make an effort, work their socks off, and integrate [into society] with their children should receive nothing but respect and equality,” he said.

“But the people who insist on bringing a culture of honour to work, or who don’t think you need to subscribe to women’s freedom and equality to be part of this society, should see nothing but a hammer falling,” he said.

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