THE German Foreign Minister Analena Burbock begins a three-day visit to China, saying he seeks to find “a good balance” with the Beijing which is its major trading partner Berlin.
“I want to form a more concrete view of the direction the new leaders have taken, particularly in terms of the tensions between political control and economic opening,” Burbock said in a statement released before departing for China.
Yesterday, Wednesday, her ministry had warned Beijing of its “threatening military posture” towards Taiwan, which increases “the risk of unintended military conflicts”.
Declaring “very concerned about the situation in the Taiwan Strait”, Berlin called on “all sides in the region” to contribute “to stability and peace”.
After arriving today in Tianjin, a port city located 140 kilometers from Beijing, Burbok will go to the Chinese capital where she will hold talks.
There he intends to defend “the common European position that a unilateral regime change in the Taiwan Strait, and consequently a military escalation, will be considered unacceptable.”
An escalation in this Strait “through which 50% of world trade passes every day” would be “disastrous”, the German minister added.
China is Germany’s largest trading partner.
On the agenda of Burbok’s discussions will be war in Ukrainebecause “the role played by China in influencing Russia will have repercussions throughout Europe and in our relations with China”, he underlined.
Burbok stated that he wants to “examine the possibilities of increased cooperation in the field of promoting civil society, environmental protection, sectors of the future such as renewable energy” and talk “about the protection of human rights”.
It is recalled that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had gone to China in early November for an official visit.
On Saturday Burbok will make a stop in South Korea to visit the demilitarized zone and hold talks with politicians in Seoul. On Sunday he will go to Japan for the G7 foreign ministers’ meeting, which will last until April 18.
Meanwhile, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, announced yesterday, Wednesday, that he tested positive for COVID-19 and therefore postponed his visit to China, which was also scheduled for April 13-15.
Source: News Beast
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