What to Expect From German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock’s Visit to China
09:02 GMT 13.04.2023 (Updated: 12:46 GMT 19.06.2023)
© AFP 2023 / KENZO TRIBOUILLARD
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German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock will visit China in the wake of the backlash generated by remarks that the French President made after his own trip to Beijing. Emmanuel Macron had suggested that Europe should stay out of the feud between the US and China over Taiwan, and that the continent needs to "wake up" to its own interests.
Germany's top diplomat is the latest European politician to pack her bags and head to China on an official visit.
It is anticipated that Annalena Baerbock has been tasked to do “damage control” after the explosive remarks on the US, China, and Taiwan made by French President Emmanuel Macron in the wake of his foray to Beijing.
Baerbock who recently urged Europe to be "geopolitically more active" in its systemic rivalry with China, which she described as a "competitor" and a "systemic opponent", is visiting the Asian powerhouse from April 13-15. The trip comes at the invitation of State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang.
In China, Baerbock intends to discuss such issues as the situation in the Taiwan Strait, the Ukraine conflagration, human rights, as well as the fight against climate crisis, according to the German foreign ministry spokesperson, Andrea Sasse. Regarding military exercises conducted by the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) near Taiwan following the meeting in the US between Taiwanese leader Tsai Ing-wen and US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, the spokeswoman added:
"We are very concerned about the situation in the Taiwan Strait. We naturally expect all parties in the region to contribute to stability and peace. That applies equally to the People's Republic of China."
It was also underscored that both Germany and France were involved in shaping a joint EU-China policy, which was also done in cooperation "with our transatlantic partner," in a reference to Washington.
Afterwards, Baerbock will reportedly head to Japan to attend a meeting of the foreign ministers of the G7 countries in the Japanese Nagano Prefecture's resort town of Karuizawa.
'Set the Record Straight'
Annalena Baerbock will be expected to "set the record straight" during her trip to China, Nils Schmid, the foreign policy spokesperson for German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democratic Party (SPD), told the media.
"We clearly defined in the [government] coalition agreement that we need a changed China policy because China has changed. The chancellor made that clear during his visit. Above all, Scholz also issued clear warnings about Taiwan during his visit [last year]. I assume that Foreign Minister Baerbock will repeat exactly that and thus set the record straight and make a clarification after Macron's botched visit," Schmid wrote in a tweet.
Screenshot of Twitter post by Nils Schmid, the foreign policy spokesperson for German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democratic Party (SPD).
© Photo : Twitter
France’s Emmanuel Macron, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez have all descended upon Beijing recently, with EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrel forced to postpone his own trip to China after testing positive for COVID-19.
Macron paid an official visit to China in early April, during which he praised Beijing's role on the international arena and underlined the importance of bilateral French-Chinese relations in various spheres. During the trip, Macron held talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping. However, after the visit, Macron made headlines with remarks that critics saw as undermining a common European China policy.
Europe should not let itself be drawn into the confrontation between the United States and China over Taiwan," French President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview when commenting on his China visit.
"The question asked to us, Europeans, is this: are we interested in the forced solution to the Taiwan issue? No. The worst thing would be to think that we, Europeans, should follow this suit and adjust to the American rhythm and Chinese overreaction. Why must we move at the pace chosen by others?" Macron told a French newspaper.
Macron noted that for Europe, the priority was "not to adapt to the agenda of other countries in all regions of the world." Macron's comments that, regarding Taiwan, Europe risks getting embroiled in "crises that aren't ours" and should "depend less on the Americans" drew a flurry of condemnation from the likes of Senator Marco Rubio to former US Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul. The official White House simply chose to comment that the Biden administration is "comfortable and confident in the terrific bilateral relationship we have with France".
Incidentally, as President Emmanuel Macron began a state visit to the Netherlands on April 11, he doubled down on his statement, saying:
"Being an ally does not mean being a vassal... doesn't mean that we don't have the right to think for ourselves."
Macron added that Paris "supports the One China policy and the search for a peaceful resolution to the situation".
Taiwan has been governed independently from mainland China since 1949. Beijing views the island as its province, while Taiwan — a territory with its own elected government — maintains that it is an autonomous nation but stops short of declaring independence. Beijing opposes any official contacts of foreign states with Taipei and considers Chinese sovereignty over the island indisputable.
Hawkish China Strategy
Many analysts have speculated that German Foreign Minister's diplomatic mission to China will be a very challenging one. Besides the "cloud of Macron's visit" hanging over her, the typically more hawkish on China Baerbock, unlike Chancellor Olaf Scholz, is a proponent of reducing Germany's economic reliance on Beijing.
The visit comes as Baerbock's foreign ministry is drafting Germany's China strategy, which, reportedly, has vowed a more tough line toward Beijing, unlike Scholz's favored approach. Furthermore, on Wednesday the German government said it was mulling whether to ban Chinese state company Cosco (China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company) from going through with an agreement to acquire parts of a Hamburg port terminal. While Olaf Scholz pushed for the deal when he visited China in 2022, German security authorities have since classified the terminal as "critical infrastructure."
In March, in an interview for a Spanish newspaper, Annalena Baerbock said that Europe ought to be aware of "systemic rivalry" with Beijing.
"We agree that we can not separate ourselves from China in the globalized world. But we should not be naive ... China is a competitor, a partner, but also a systemic opponent."
She added that Beijing had "strategically taken advantage of this gap we left to expand its influence, create economic dependence, for example, in case of the New Silk Road. We have not done enough to stand up to it."
