Political exchange between Beijing and Berlin has increased noticeably since the end of the pandemic.
(Photo: via REUTERS)
Beijing Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang is coming to Berlin this week. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing announced on Monday a trip to Germany, France and Norway, which should last until Friday.
The visit to Berlin takes place in the run-up to the German-Chinese government consultations planned for next month, to which the new Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang was invited to Berlin on June 20.
Finance Minister Christian Lindner, on the other hand, has to cancel his trip to Beijing planned for this week. The Chinese Ministry of Finance asked at the weekend to postpone the talks between the two ministers planned for May 10 due to scheduling reasons, the Federal Ministry of Finance said on Monday. The meeting is said to be rescheduled at a later date. On Wednesday, Lindner still wants to fly to Japan as planned for talks with the G7 finance ministers.
Political exchange between Beijing and Berlin has increased noticeably since the end of the pandemic. In mid-April, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) was on her first visit to China and met the new Chinese Foreign Minister. Again, clear differences became apparent. Baerbock sees the People’s Republic as a system rival on the one hand, but also as a partner and competitor on the other.
Leading government officials from both sides meet at the regular government consultations. The Federal Government organizes such talks with several close or strategically important partners such as France, Japan, India, Brazil and Israel. The last German-Chinese intergovernmental consultations took place in 2021 – because of the corona pandemic at the time as a video conference and overshadowed by political tensions.
More: The US government is struggling to come up with a clear China strategy