Berlin Everything was prepared, the visit program arranged. Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) wanted to fly to Beijing on Tuesday evening to meet his counterpart Liu Kun. But then surprising news came from Beijing: The Chinese side had asked to postpone the meeting due to scheduling reasons, the Federal Ministry of Finance announced on Monday.
Such a short-notice cancellation of a long-prepared government visit is highly unusual. And so one puzzles in Berlin: Are there really scheduling difficulties, or what is behind Lindner’s invitation?
Great importance was attached to the trip in the Federal Ministry of Finance. It would be the first face-to-face meeting with Liu Kun. Lindner himself had the idea of combining his trip to the meeting of G7 finance ministers in Japan with a stopover in Beijing.
Lindner’s meeting with his counterpart was also intended to prepare for the German-Chinese government consultations in Berlin on June 20. The spontaneous discharge stands in contrast to the Chinese government’s recent efforts to maintain good relations with Germany.
For example, the tone in the talks between Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) and her Chinese counterpart Qin Gang on her trip to China in April was quite rough.
>> Read here: baerbock exchanged blows with Chinese counterpart on trip to China
However, Baerbock’s following appointments with China’s top foreign policy leader Wang Yi and the even higher-ranking Vice President Han Zheng were not canceled. Qin Gang is expected to hold talks in Germany, France and Norway this week, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced on Monday. On Tuesday he will meet his counterpart Baerbock in Berlin.
Beijing upset over Taiwan trip
The reason for the spontaneous cancellation of Lindner’s trip could be the visit of FDP Research Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger to Taiwan at the end of March. Stark-Watzinger was the first federal minister in 26 years to travel to Taiwan.
Apart from an angry statement, the reaction of the Chinese government has so far remained within what can be considered moderate by Chinese standards.
The leadership in Beijing reacted angrily to the FDP minister’s trip.
(Photo: AP)
Lindner’s criticism of the ongoing Chinese support for Russia could also be behind the affront. During the meeting of the finance ministers from the most important industrialized and emerging countries (G20) at the end of February, Lindner also publicly expressed his displeasure: “This shows a shift in the Chinese attitude, which one must regret very much.”
>> Read here: China caused a scandal at G20 meetings by blocking the final declaration
Shortly thereafter, preparations for Lindner’s visit to Beijing began, and the Ministry of Finance was busy until the weekend. The astonishment at the cancellation is correspondingly great.
FDP in Beijing: Appointments canceled, yelled at for 30 minutes
However, Lindner has already experienced that trips to China can mean trouble. During his last visit in 2019, when he was head of the FDP, there was a scandal. Almost all appointments of the FDP delegation in Beijing were canceled at the last minute. At the time, the Liberals were still in opposition.
>> Read here: KP official yells at FDP boss Lindner for 30 minutes
The tour group around the chairman included Johannes Vogel, now first parliamentary director of the FDP parliamentary group, Bijan Djir-Sarai, today FDP general secretary, and Konstantin Kuhle, today deputy leader of the FDP parliamentary group.
At that time, too, there was talk of “difficulties with scheduling”. An appointment with an official of the Chinese Communist Party was maintained, but according to information from the participants, he only yelled at the delegation around FDP leader Linder for around 30 minutes. The topic: Hong Kong.
The delegation explained the hostile atmosphere during their visit to China by first traveling to Hong Kong before moving on to mainland China. However, China was informed of the order for a long time. In this respect, the short-term cancellations should also have been calculated.
At the time of the FDP delegation’s trip, the Chinese government was faced with massive protests in the special administrative zone.
(Photo: dpa)
At the time there had been widespread protests in Hong Kong against a proposed law that would allow Hong Kong prisoners to be extradited to China. Beijing accused the FDP politicians of supporting the protesters with the visit. The delegation also met with opposition members of the Democratic Party in Hong Kong.
>> Read here: G7 wants to become more economically independent of China
The scandal in 2019 is still a topic of conversation in the FDP leadership when it comes to China. Like the Greens, the Liberals are critical of China. The FDP faction had found clear words in a paper. With a view to the Taiwan conflict, China is also potentially a threat to world peace, it said. The liberals oppose a complete decoupling from China, but want the German economy to reduce excessive dependencies.
According to the Ministry of Finance, it is not known whether Lindner’s short-term unloading has anything to do with the position of the FDP. It is clear, however, that the positioning will not change as a result.
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