diplomacy
Criticism of Söder’s trip to China: “Failed badly”
Kissed a panda cuddly toy in Chengdu, China: Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder. photo
© Peter Kneffel/dpa
Söder kissed panda cuddly toys in China and represented Bavarian interests. He has now long since returned home – but the criticism of his foreign policy excursion has not stopped.
The criticism of the CSU boss’s appearance Markus Söder in China doesn’t stop. There is also a lack of understanding from the Union.
The CDU foreign politician Ruprecht Polenz criticized, among other things, Söder’s sentence in the “Tagesspiegel”: “We are doing real politics instead of moral politics.” “Without moral standards there is no realpolitik,” said Polenz. “At least if your own values are important to you. Dialogue does not exclude the demarcation of human rights violations and imperial claims.”
China “rolled out a sticky red carpet for Söder during his visit, including an honorary professorship,” criticized Polenz in the “Tagesspiegel”. The former chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Bundestag asked: “Didn’t anyone explain to Söder that the Chinese Communist Party is ruling Chinese universities?
Greens: Söder creates “moments of shame”
“He has learned nothing from his fatal mistakes in Russia policy,” said Green Party leader Omid Nouripour to the “Tagesspiegel”. “The result of his trip to China are photos. What he is doing is no longer even secondary foreign policy.” The deputy chairwoman of the Green party in the Bundestag, Agnieszka Brugger, spoke of “moments of shame”. During his trip, for example, Söder had himself photographed kissing a panda cuddly toy.
The SPD foreign policy expert Michael Roth had previously criticized the CSU boss for his dealings with China. “Markus Söder is not the first state politician to try to pursue a secondary foreign policy. But rarely has anyone failed as badly as he did,” said the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Bundestag to the “Tagesspiegel” with a view to Söder’s visit to China. Söder is thus counteracting the foreign policy of Germany and the EU.
Söder met Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang on Wednesday and insisted on better competitive conditions for German companies in China and the dismantling of trade restrictions on agricultural products from Bavaria. It was a very appreciative conversation, said Söder. “We’re already talking on equal terms – and that’s something special.” And they want to continue the dialogue.