Chancellor Scholz is traveling to China today for the second time in his term of office. Two days will be about economics and only one will be about politics. Critics fear that issues such as human rights will be neglected.
The Chancellor is taking a lot of time for China: he will travel to the country for three days, something he has never visited anywhere for that long. But China isn’t just any country, which is why the government has created a special China strategy, which Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has titled: “China has changed, which is why our China policy must change too.”
Less economic dependence and more attention to China as a rival and competitor – that was the motto. So will everything be different this time?
What hasn’t changed in any case is that the Chancellor is in China with the most important German business bosses – and has also made it clear: “We have no interest in an economic decoupling from China,” said Olaf Scholz.
Mainly it’s about the economy
The first two days will actually be mostly about economics. It starts with Chongqing, probably the most populous city in the world with 32 million inhabitants. There the Chancellor will look at hydrogen production with German participation and have Chinese architecture students explain modern urban planning to him.
The second stop is Shanghai – and only on day three of the trip, Tuesday, does Scholz come to Beijing and meet President Xi Jinping. China expert Max Zenglein from the Mercator Institute for China Studies (Merics) finds this worrying. “Beijing will also perceive it that way: The Chancellor comes and takes three days to travel to three different cities with a delegation, where the focus is more on economic issues, before discussing a few other, critical issues with Xi Jinping appeals.”
Scholz wants to discuss war against Ukraine
One of the difficult topics that the Chancellor wants to address in Beijing is China’s role in Russia’s war against Ukraine. Beijing is on the side of the Kremlin and is suspected by the USA of supplying Russia with goods that can also be used militarily.
The Chancellor has already addressed this several times: “I have once again appealed to the Chinese government to exert even greater influence over Russia in this war. It is important that China does not continue to supply weapons to the aggressor Russia.”
The experts doubt whether Scholz can achieve anything with his concerns this time. “The Chinese will not change their strategies because the German Chancellor criticizes,” says Mikko Huotari, director of the Merics research institute, which specializes in China. “From my perspective, the point is not that we should now expect it with euphoria; Beijing is now becoming a peacemaker here.”
Nevertheless, it is important that Scholz uses this rare opportunity to tell President Xi face to face his position when it comes to world politics and the economy: “The Chinese side must understand that it is facing a wall from the West where really tough measures are being taken must be taken so that Europe’s industrial base is protected, among other things, and Beijing also needs to hear that from the Chancellor,” said Huotari.
Commitment to Uyghurs and Tibet called for
Human rights activists want the Chancellor in Beijing to also stand up for the oppressed Uyghur ethnic group and for Tibet. David Missal from the Tibet Initiative Germany is disappointed: “We see this when we try to work with the Chancellery, for example. When we ask there, we are ignored. Our emails and our letters end up in the black hole there. Nobody responds to it.” When the requests are about human rights, the priority in the Chancellery seems to lie elsewhere, said Missal.
At least the human rights activists have a good tip for the Chancellor so that he doesn’t get caught up in Beijing’s favor when it comes to pretty photos: Under no circumstances hug pandas.
Evi Seibert, ARD Berlin, tagesschau, April 13, 2024 2:33 p.m