A few days before her taking office as the new German foreign minister, Green politician Annalena Baerbock, in an interview with the Tageszeitung daily, has provoked new frictions with China. Baerbock announced a tougher line against China, including a potential boycott of Chinese exports to Germany and Europe as well as a potential boycott of the Olympic Winter Games hosted by China next year.
In an official release, China’s embassy wrote yesterday: “What we need is builders of bridges instead of walls,” voicing concern over “some people” that prioritize differences with China and talk about “systemic competition.”
The release voiced “hope that individual German politicians view China and Chinese-German relations objectively and in context, actively respect China’s core interests and invest more energy on making progress in the practical cooperation between both sides.” China at least was willing to cooperate with the new German government in the development of relations on the basis of “mutual respect, equality and benefit.”
