China has sharply criticized Federal Foreign Minister Baerbock for calling Chinese President Xi Jinping a “dictator”. Foreign Office spokeswoman Mao Ning said the statements were an “open political provocation.”
The Chinese government is highly dissatisfied with the remark made by German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said in Beijing.
Baerbock’s statement was “absurd and seriously violates China’s dignity.” It is an “open political provocation”. The communist government complained through diplomatic channels, the spokeswoman said.
Statement on the US channel Fox News
The minister called the Chinese head of state and party leader a dictator last week – in an interview with the US broadcaster Fox News. Baerbock said that if Russian President Vladimir Putin wins the war in Ukraine, what kind of sign would that be for other dictators in the world, such as Xi, China’s president? That’s why Ukraine must win the war, said the German Foreign Minister.
It was only in June that US President Joe Biden compared Xi Jinping to a dictator, and the communist government reacted indignantly then too.
Personality cult surrounding Xi
China has been ruled with a heavy hand by the Communist Party since 1949. In the autocratic People’s Republic there are neither free elections nor freedom of expression or freedom of the press, no separation of powers and no rule of law.
Since taking office more than ten years ago, Xi Jinping has established a nationwide cult of personality around himself, silencing critics or putting them in prison. He has abolished power-limiting regulations and can now theoretically rule until the end of his life. The last time this happened was under long-term dictator Mao Zedong, the founder of the People’s Republic of China.