German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Monday warned her Chinese counterpart that Beijing’s support for Moscow would impact ties and instead urged China to help end the Ukraine conflict.
Speaking in Beijing, she said the over 1,000-day war was impacting the whole world and condemned the battlefield role of North Korean troops in Ukraine and the use of Chinese-made drones.
Baerbock urged an international peace process for Ukraine and said “that is why I am here in China today”, adding that every permanent member of the UN Security Council had a “responsibility for peace and security in the world”.
“The Russian president is not only destroying our European peace order through his war against Ukraine, but is now dragging Asia into it via North Korea,” she told a press briefing.
“My Chinese counterpart and I have therefore discussed in depth that this cannot be in China’s interest either.”
Germany’s top diplomat met with her counterpart Wang Yi for a “strategic dialogue” as Berlin seeks to build better ties with China while engaging on key differences.
On the day German Chancellor Olaf Scholz made a surprise visit to war-torn Ukraine, she stressed that “in order to protect our own German and European security, we must now support Ukraine”.
“And it is just as important to enter into a peace process together in the world, and that is why I am here in China today,” she added.
China presents itself as a neutral party in the Ukraine war and says it is not sending lethal assistance to either side, unlike the United States and other Western nations.
But it remains a close political and economic ally of Russia, and NATO members have branded Beijing a “decisive enabler” of the war, which it has never condemned.
“Drones from Chinese factories and North Korean troops attacking the peace in the middle of Europe are violating our core European security interests,” Baerbock said.
She said she had “advocated a just peace process here in Beijing today, precisely because we come from different perspectives and roles”.
Baerbock had earlier told Wang that “increasing Chinese support for Russia’s war against Ukraine has an impact on our relations,” according to a readout by the German foreign ministry.
“Core German and European security interests are affected,” she said.
Baerbock also discussed crucial trade ties between Europe’s biggest economy and China, the world’s number two economy that has long been a key market for German automakers and other industrial giants.
She urged Chinese authorities to “engage constructively” with the European Union over tariffs levied on Chinese electric vehicles.
“A level playing field, fair competition and reciprocal market conditions are essential,” she said, according to her spokesperson.
The EU at the end of October imposed extra tariffs on Chinese-made electric cars, after an anti-subsidy probe concluded Beijing’s state support was unfairly undercutting European automakers.
Germany, whose big auto makers including Volkswagen are facing falling profits and are weighing lay-offs, had opposed the EU tariffs and called for continued dialogue with China.
