In the interests of the Chinese leadership, the Chancellor agreed not to allow any questions at the joint press meeting.
(Photo: IMAGO/Future Image)
The honors for China’s Prime Minister Li Qiang didn’t stop this week. He was given a pompous reception four times on behalf of the federal government: on Sunday at Berlin Airport, on Monday morning by Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier – who, according to protocol, is one level above Li.
On Monday evening, Chancellor Olaf Scholz welcomed him to his official residence for dinner – and on Tuesday Li was greeted a fourth time on behalf of the Federal Republic – with military honors. The day before, the bosses of the large Dax companies had already paid their respects to Li.
From China’s point of view, the government consultations must have been a complete success. The photos alone couldn’t have been nicer for Beijing: In addition to the German head of government, eight German ministers took time for their counterparts from China – beaming faces everywhere. The Chinese state press almost fell over itself with reports about the numerous proofs of how excellent the relations with Germany are.
This also has an impact on Beijing’s narrative against the United States: Washington is portrayed as a contentious troublemaker – and China as an advocate of cooperation and free trade.
For the federal government, however, the results of the meetings are much more modest.
Content was important to the German side – but as expected, it fell far short. In the interests of the Chinese leadership, Scholz even agreed not to allow any questions from journalists at the joint press meeting on Tuesday – under Chancellor Angela Merkel, this was “a duty that, despite everything, had always been demanded of the Chinese side.
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There was not even a joint declaration – the differences between Beijing and Berlin are now too great. Talks with China are extremely important, but the imbalance shows that the format of government consultations is no longer up-to-date with a country like China.
Berlin can and should talk about climate protection, China’s role in the Ukraine war and the problems of the economy at meetings, including high-level ones. The more the better.
However, large formats such as government consultations are not necessary for this. Especially since it is questionable how much cooperation agreements with China, for example in the climate area, are worth. When Beijing fretted over the visit of then-US House Speaker ‧Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan, the climate dialogue with Washington was the first thing the Chinese leadership threw overboard.
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