Germany‘s top diplomat will not ‘ignore’ China disputes on visit

GERMAN Foreign Minister Anna Baerbock on Sunday said that she would not gloss over points of contention with Beijing as she heads to China for an official visit.

“Cooperation is better than confrontation - without being naive,” Baerbock said in a statement before heading to China on Monday.

She cited a recent example during the COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan, where “Europe and China worked together for a new approach to climate financing”.

But she also noted long-running disputes about China’s massive subsidies and support for its businesses, which lead the EU to recently impose new import tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles.

“We cannot accept that others break international rules to the detriment of German and European industry,” she said, accusing Beijing of allowing “over-production subsidised by the state”.

She also plans to discuss China’s support for Russia in its war against Ukraine during talks with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.

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“Instead of being, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, a guarantor of peace and security in the world, China is working against our European interests with its economic and military support for Russia,” she said.

“We simply cannot ignore this.” AFP