China outraged by Baerbock’s “dictator” statement to Xi

China has sharply criticized Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) for calling Chinese President Xi Jinping a “dictator”. Baerbock’s statements were “extremely absurd and a serious violation of China’s political dignity and an open political provocation,” said Chinese Foreign Office spokeswoman Mao Ning on Monday. Beijing is “deeply dissatisfied” and will make representations to the German side through diplomatic channels.

Last week on Thursday, during her visit to the USA, Baerbock spoke about the war in Ukraine in an interview with the right-wing US broadcaster Fox News and said: “If (Russian President Vladimir) Putin won this war, what would that be like a sign to other dictators in the world, like Xi, like the Chinese president? That’s why Ukraine must win this war.”

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

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

China is Germany’s most important trading partner

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 is intended to 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 paper. “The China strategy is aimed primarily at us,” said a spokesman for the Foreign Office on Monday. The People’s Republic remains a “partner, competitor and systemic rival” for Germany.

The Foreign Office spokesman defended the fact that Baerbock gave an interview to the right-wing broadcaster Fox News during her visit to the USA. The Federal Foreign Minister’s visit was “explicitly” about using “channels with which one might reach a population that one simply cannot reach with an interview in the New York Times, for example.”