Baerbock: Parts of trip to China "more than shocking", Beijing is a "systemic rival"

(Patria) - German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock described parts of her recent trip to China as "more than shocking" and said Beijing is increasingly becoming a systemic rival, which is more than a trade partner and competitor.

The sharp remarks followed Baerbock's visit to Beijing last week, where she warned that any attempt by China to control Taiwan would be unacceptable, Reuters reported.

Baerbock also said that China wants to follow its own rules at the expense of the international rules-based order. Beijing, in turn, asked Germany to support the "reunification" of Taiwan and said that China and Germany are not adversaries but partners. Speaking before the German Bundestag (lower house of parliament) on Wednesday about her trip to China, Baerbock said that "some of it was indeed more than shocking".

She did not elaborate on the details, although her remark followed her statement that China is becoming increasingly repressive internally and aggressive externally. For Germany, she said, China is a partner, a competitor, and a systemic rival, but her impression now is that "the aspect of systemic rivals is increasingly growing".

China is Germany's largest trading partner, Baerbock said, but this does not mean that Beijing was Germany's most important trading partner. The German government wants to work with China, but it does not want to repeat past mistakes, for example, the concept of "change through trade," she said, that the West can achieve political change in authoritarian regimes through trade.

Baerbock also said that China has a responsibility to work for peace in the world, especially by using its influence on Russia in the war in Ukraine. She welcomed Beijing's promise not to supply weapons to Russia, including dual-use items, although she added that Berlin would see how that promise would work in practice.

Departing from the policy of former Chancellor Angela Merkel, Olaf Scholz's government is developing a new China strategy to reduce dependence on the Asian economic superpower, a vital export market for German goods.