The feared news reached the Chancellor at an altitude of 11,900 meters over Kazakhstan. He was on his way to a three-day visit to China when reports came in of Iranian attacks on Israel.
Everything is already prepared for the night’s sleep in the government Airbus, but Olaf Scholz is still awake. His foreign policy advisor Jens Plötner is also on board, trying to sort through the information – from open sources as well as reports from the intelligence services.
What had been expected for days has now happened. Iranian drones are on their way to Israel, a major war is looming. Even before departure it was expected that this could happen.
A statement is now being prepared that will be distributed immediately after landing in Chongqing. “Chancellor Olaf Scholz has strongly condemned the heavy air strikes on Israeli territory that the regime in Tehran began tonight. With this irresponsible and unjustifiable attack, Iran risks a regional conflagration,” it says. In these difficult times, Germany stands closely by Israel’s side. Further reactions will be discussed closely with the G7 partners and allies.
It is already clear that the Chancellor’s trip through China cannot take the normal course.
Do you still have sightseeing pictures?
Scholz is expected in Beijing on Tuesday for talks with President Xi Jinping. But before that, Scholz actually wants to complete an extensive visit program. In the mega-metropolis of Chongqing, reputedly the largest city in the world with 32 million inhabitants, he wants to visit a Bosch production facility for hydrogen drives, talk to students about urban planning and let young architects show him around the city. A boat trip on the Jialing and Yangtze rivers is planned for the evening.
But is that possible? With the greatest possible catastrophe looming in the Middle East, can Scholz deliver tourist-like images? Especially since he now has to focus primarily on crisis diplomacy. This also requires telephone calls to politicians in the Middle East. The Scholz team is also prepared for a meeting of heads of state and government. An IT expert traveled with us from Berlin to ensure the necessary security. All members of the tour group have been told that the Chinese secret service is listening wherever they can.
There is no question of canceling the trip. On the one hand, because that would be an affront to the hosts and Scholz has planned a lot to create a good atmosphere in China. Twelve business representatives are on board, including Bayer boss William Anderson, Mercedes boss Ola Källenius and Tobias Meyer, CEO of DHL.
On the other hand, because an urgent topic has been added to the talks with Xi. People around Scholz don’t want to overestimate China’s influence on the mullahs’ regime in Tehran, but it’s certainly not zero.
As in the case of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, Scholz wants to appeal to Xi to take responsibility for peace. In the Ukraine war, China officially claims to be neutral, but apart from arms supplies, it reliably supplies Russia with everything it needs for the war. It also maintains good relations with Iran; Israel had sharply criticized it over the Gaza war. Scholz is not scheduled to be back in Berlin until Wednesday morning. Anyway, that’s the plan.