Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang urges Germany to avoid ‘bloc confrontation’ amid warnings Taiwan conflict would be global ‘horror show’
- Qin meets German counterpart Annalena Baerbock, who says Europe ‘cannot be indifferent to tensions in the Taiwan Strait’
- German minister appeals to Beijing to help end Ukraine conflict, but asks why it has not called on Russia to stop its war on its neighbour
Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang urged Germany to avoid confrontation on Friday as Beijing continued its diplomatic push to win over Europe.
In response to last week’s meeting between Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California, the People’s Liberation Army staged a major drill around the island that included simulated precision strikes.
The drill heightened global concerns about a possible escalation in the Taiwan Strait, but Macron warned that Europe should avoid becoming an American “vassal” and not get dragged into a confrontation between China and the United States over the island.
“Conflicts can only be resolved peacefully. A unilateral and violent change in the status quo would not be acceptable to us as Europeans,” she said.
She said that half of global trade – and 70 per cent of semiconductors – passed through the Taiwan Strait and “so the free passage is in our economic interests”. “Germany and the European Union are economically vulnerable, which means that we cannot be indifferent to the tensions in the Taiwan Strait,” she added.
But Qin blamed “foreign forces supporting the self-ruled island’s independence separatist forces” for the growing tensions, adding: “One must have a clear-cut stand against Taiwan independence if one wants peace in the Taiwan Strait.”
The German minister – a stern critic of Beijing – also called on China to persuade Russia to stop the war in Ukraine.
“Just as China is successfully engaged in a peaceful settlement between Iran and Saudi Arabia, we would like China to influence Russia to finally end its aggression and to participate in a peaceful conflict resolution.”
He said China adopted a “prudent and responsible” attitude and regulated the export of dual-use items that could be used for the war.
“If the security interests of one particular side is not considered, crises and conflicts are inevitable,” he said.
Qin also urged parties involved in the conflict to remain objective and calm and work together. “Our proposition boils down to one point, that is, to persuade and promote talks, and we will not do anything to add fuel to the fire,” he said.
Germany has in recent months sought to reduce its trade reliance on China and instead diversify its economic ties with other countries.
But Qin said “there is no need to worry about so-called [economic] overreliance” as long as the two countries “remain open”.
He added that China had “never worried” about Germany even though China-Germany trade made up over 30 per cent of its total trade with Europe.
“We have never thought that this will bring any risks to China,” he said, adding that it would be counterproductive to artificially put the brakes on economic cooperation.
On Friday the two ministers met in the northern port city of Tianjin before travelling together to Beijing – the second stop of Baerbock’s three-day mainland visit. Baerbock also met Chinese Vice-President Han Zheng and Wang Yi, the country’s foreign policy chief, in the capital.
