Baerbock takes on China – protesting Taiwan statements

New York / Beijing “Thinking without railings”: Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) quotes Hannah Arendt as she explains the guidelines of her geopolitical strategy in New York.

Baerbock wants to rethink foreign policy, as she explained yesterday in a speech to American and German students at the traditional New School university. The transatlantic cooperation should be based on three pillars: on security cooperation, the rule-based international order and the strengthening of democracies. She stressed that the link between Europe and the US in the face of the Ukraine war is “perhaps closer today than at any time since the end of the Cold War”.

There have always been key moments in the relationship between Germany, Europe and the USA, for example with the reunification of East and West Germany. Today, when global security and freedom are threatened in a way that has not been seen in decades, the states across the Atlantic must move closer together again, use the “transatlantic moment” caused by the war and take on the new task. Russian President Vladimir Putin is attacking the universal values ​​of the West: “Freedom, democracy and human rights are under attack.”

The most important factor in the German transatlantic strategy is therefore the question of security. Germany has already set up a special fund of 100 billion euros to strengthen the military. The federal government has also moved away from the original position of not sending weapons to countries at war. Instead, Germany is now one of Ukraine’s strongest military and financial supporters. Baerbock also mentions a brigade with up to 800 soldiers in Lithuania that is available for NATO and can be flexibly relocated.

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Not only global, but also European security in particular is extremely important, as the Ukraine war shows. Germany must therefore continue to strengthen NATO and play a leading role in the partnership between Europe and North America. Baerbock called for a more strategic European Union to “meet the United States on an equal footing: in a leadership partnership.” The Federal Foreign Office is also working on Germany’s first security strategy. Part of this is the look at disinformation in social networks, at supply chains and the climate crisis with its potential for conflict between countries.

Furthermore, the transatlantic partners should work together more closely in the future in the development and regulation of critical technologies in order to be less economically dependent on third countries. Part of this is also the end of dependence on Russian oil and gas.

promotion of international order

The Foreign Minister called for an international order based on rules as the second pillar of the transatlantic strategy. This new order should enable all states to work together, prosper and coexist side by side in peace, explains the Secretary of State. It is already supported by the 141 states that condemned the Russian war in Ukraine in the UN General Assembly in March.

Together with these states, global challenges such as the pandemic, the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons or the climate crisis must be tackled. That also means billions in support for the infrastructure in countries of the Global South. Baerbock emphasizes that the United States and Europe remain the largest contributors to global humanitarian and development assistance.

The Greens’ core issue of the climate crisis could only be tackled by all states together, including China, one of the biggest polluters of CO2 emissions. But Baerbock also warned: The past few months have taught us how quickly rhetoric can turn into aggression. “China’s statements regarding Taiwan raise serious questions.” She was referring to her much-criticized statements from the previous day. Baerbock added: “It cannot be in our interest if China also creates escalating economic dependencies in the region.”

>> Read here: “Taiwan’s freedoms must be respected” – Pelosi arrived in Taipei.

Baerbock traveled to New York on Monday to attend the NPT review conference. After her arrival, she had said: “We do not accept when international law is broken and a larger neighbor attacks its smaller neighbor in violation of international law – and that also applies to China, of course.” Baerbock added, referring to the “brutal Russian war of aggression”. against Ukraine, it is important to make it clear that the international community does not accept such an approach.

The head of the European department at the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Wang Lutong, then officially protested to the new German ambassador in Beijing, Patricia Flor, on Tuesday. He spoke of “wrong comments” by Baerbock, as emerged from a tweet by the senior Chinese diplomat. The Taiwan question is an “internal matter of China”.

strengthening democracies

In her speech, Baerbock names the strengthening of democracy as the third pillar. Germany and the USA are important partners, they have to take care of each other. Both face the same major societal issues, such as social justice, racism, political polarization and weakened democratic institutions. This is manifested in the USA in events such as the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021. But in Germany, too, the AfD is now very popular in some regions.

The Foreign Minister is not entirely without criticism: as close as the United States and Germany are, they are far removed from each other elsewhere. She took a clear position on the recently overturned right to abortion by the US Supreme Court: “Every woman has the right to make decisions about her own body.” Challenges like these show that democracies are complicated and, precisely because of their openness and inclusion, susceptible to Attacks – from the inside and from the outside.

“Democracy is never finished, it continues to develop,” stressed the Foreign Minister. This requires the transatlantic partnership and Hannah Arendt’s “thinking without railings”.

With agency material.

More: The Secretary of State wants to insist on nuclear disarmament in New York. There are also voices that are calling for nuclear weapons right now – as a deterrent against Russia.

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