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German chancellor Scholz to visit China next month
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday (Oct 21) announced plans for a visit to China as Berlin is reviewing its overall strategy toward Beijing, according to the Anadolu Agency.
Speaking on the sidelines of the EU summit in Brussels, Scholz said: "I have been planning a visit (to China). We are trying to find a date for that visit."
Human rights concerns are likely to overshadow the trip: Scholz will likely be the first Western leader to visit Beijing since the U.N.'s human rights chief Michelle Bachelet found that China has committed "serious human rights violations" against the Uyghur Muslim community, stating that such acts are potential crimes against humanity.
The German government is currently in internal discussions on its first national security strategy, which is supposed to be published early next year and would also address relations with China.
According to Scholz's spokesman, the trip would take place in the beginning of November.
EU leaders officially began a collective rethink about the bloc’s increasingly fraught relationship with China, displaying a sense of urgency unseen prior to the Russian war against Ukraine.
The planned visit comes at a time when the German Foreign Ministry is working on a new China strategy following the experience of being economically too dependent on Russia.
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Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock emphasized that after the experience of over-relying economically on Russia, Germany should no longer make itself dependent on any country "that does not share our values." Such mistakes should not be made twice.
Economic dependency makes Germany "politically blackmailable," she told the Munich-based Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper when it comes to dealing with China.
"It's not about complete decoupling, which is not possible in one of the largest countries. But opening up alternative markets in Asia, diversification and risk management,” Baerbock added.
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German intelligence agencies have also warned about China, saying the Asian powerhouse could in the long run be a far greater threat to German security interests than Russia, according to a report by the German Press Agency (Dpa).
Scholz has repeatedly emphasized the importance of cooperating with China, and one official said the chancellor would stress the importance of upholding international law in his discussions with Xi and push the Chinese leader to take a harder line on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Scholz also sees particular importance in cooperating with China in the fight against climate change, as he hopes to win Beijing as a partner for a climate club — an idea that he initiated last year to promote climate protection among the world's biggest economies.
