German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s trip as the first Western leader to China during the corona era has been under pressure – especially when the trip was criticized both at home and in Europe.
Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz opened his press conference with a topic important to the whole of Europe. He said he asked the Chinese leader Xi Jinping to use his influence on the Russian leader to Vladimir Putinso that he would end the war in Ukraine and withdraw his troops from there immediately.
Xi Jinping is probably the only leader in the world who has influence over Putin. China has not condemned Russia for the invasion of Ukraine.
Scholz said that he also asked Xi to persuade Putin to continue the grain transport agreement from Ukraine, so that the grain can be safely taken out of the country and the world hunger crisis is prevented.
He said both leaders agreed that there should be no threat of nuclear weapons.
Scholz said he spoke to Xi and the prime minister Li Keqiang also about difficult things. He listed the coronavirus, universality of human rights, climate issues, trade relations.
He said that the change in the prevailing situation in Taiwan must only happen peacefully through dialogue. China threatens to attach Taiwan to Chinese control, even by force.
The media that got to the event were not allowed to ask questions, so it is not known how the host reacted to the concerns.
A rare guest
Scholz wanted to present himself as a European leader talking to the leader of an Eastern superpower at a difficult time when dialogue is needed.
After all, China has been closed even for state visits until the last few months for almost three years citing corona restrictions. Scholz and his troops also experienced the restrictions. They spent the day in a so-called bubble in a restricted area. Scholz had to undergo a corona test already on the plane, where the testers arrived in white protective suits.
Bilateral economic relations are particularly important for Germany. That is why Germany’s most important business leaders arrived in Scholz’s wake. German automotive and chemical companies have large investments in China.
Both Scholz and Xi Jinping said they wanted to deepen and increase economic ties.
A propaganda victory for China
This does not necessarily coincide with the aspiration of the European Union. The EU would like to reduce its economy’s dependence on China. The concern is a dispute similar to Russia’s situation with authoritarian China.
Scholz has been criticized especially for selling a share of the container terminal at the port of Hamburg to a Chinese freight company just before his trip, as if as a gift to China before the state visit.
China’s authoritarian leader, who has just further consolidated his power, seemed pleased with the visit. The Chancellor’s visit is a propaganda victory for China. It can show the United States that Europe’s major economy wants to maintain relations with China, even if the United States wants Europe to break away from China’s sphere of influence.
According to Chinese state television CCTV, Xi had said that “China and Germany, as big influential countries, must cooperate in times of change and chaos.” According to him, respect and cooperation are needed to keep relations in order.
However, in Xi’s third term, China and its partners are facing a new kind of relationship. Xi is steering China in an even more ideological direction, where the economy is subordinate to Xi’s Marxist vision. Therefore, the chips in the coming years in the trading country that attracts Germany can be unpredictable.
You can discuss the topic further until Saturday, November 5. until 11 p.m.