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POLITICS

Beijing says Germany’s new China strategy to result in ‘risks’

Germany's tougher new approach to managing its relationship with China would increase "man-made risks" and "exacerbate divisions" in the world, Beijing said Friday.

Wang Wenbin
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin speaks at a briefing about the phone call between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, at the Foreign Ministry in Beijing on April 26th, 2023. Photo by: GREG BAKER / AFP

The 64-page strategy, adopted on Thursday by officials in Berlin who said it was formulated in response to a “more assertive” China, has already drawn the ire of Beijing.

“We believe that competition and protectionism in the name of ‘de-risking’ and reducing dependence entirely securitises and politicises normal cooperation,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told a regular press briefing.

Wang said that the move would “only produce the opposite of the intended result, creating man-made risks”.

“Clamouring about so-called competition of systems, interests, and values goes against the trend of the times and will only exacerbate divisions in the world,” Wang said.

The document, covering security policy as well as economic and scientific cooperation, is the product of months of wrangling within the German government over its strategy toward China.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz tweeted Thursday that Berlin had “reacted to a China that has changed and become more assertive”, and that his government wanted to reduce economic reliance on Beijing in critical areas.

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said that the new approach was embedded in the European Union’s approach to China, and showed that Germany was “realistic but not naive”.

While Baerbock, of the Greens party, has pushed for a more hawkish line and a greater emphasis on human rights, Scholz, a Social Democrat, has backed a more trade-friendly stance he calls “de-risking but not decoupling”.

The German announcement initially drew a strong reaction from China’s embassy in Berlin, which said “viewing China as a ‘systemic competitor and rival’ is not in line with the objective facts, nor with the common interests of the two countries”.

The embassy cautioned in a statement that “an ideological view of China… will only intensify misunderstandings and misjudgments, and damage cooperation and mutual trust”.

Since the United States toughened up its economic policies against China, Beijing has feared its biggest partner in the EU could be headed in the same direction.

The German chancellor’s statements on the issue have echoed language used by the United States and European Union leaders, who say they want to adjust economic dependence while continuing to work and trade with Beijing.

Li Qiang, visiting Germany last month on his first trip abroad since he was named China’s premier, warned Berlin against “using de-risking in name to carry out decoupling”.

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POLITICS

Scholz calls on coalition to ‘pull ourselves together’

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Saturday called on his fractious governing coalition to "pull ourselves together" following a dismal showing in EU parliament elections last week.

Scholz calls on coalition to 'pull ourselves together'

In power since the end of 2021, the three parties in government — Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD), the Greens and the liberal FDP — have been at loggerheads on a wide range of issues including climate measures and budget spending.

“I think that this is one of the entirely justified criticisms of many citizens, namely that there is too much debate” within the coalition, Scholz told German television channel ZDF on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Italy.

“We need to pull ourselves together and stick together to reach agreements,” he added.

“The people have the right to demand that things change,” Scholz told public broadcaster ARD.

The three parties in the coalition suffered a severe defeat in the European elections, with the SPD achieving its worst result in a national election since 1949.

Subsequently, Scholz has faced mounting criticism within his own party.

On Saturday, however, Scholz told ZDF and ARD that he was “sure” that he would be the SPD’s next candidate for the chancellorship in the parliamentary elections scheduled for autumn 2025.

In the very short term, a new test awaits the coalition, which must reach an agreement on the 2025 budget by the beginning of July.

The FDP’s finance minister is opposed to any exceptions to the rules limiting debt and to any tax increases.

On the other hand, the SPD and the Greens are opposed to cuts in social welfare or climate protection.

The debate is also focused on increasing the resources allocated to the German army.

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