Chinese diplomacy went into high gear during the meeting with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, obviously knowing her limitations and prejudices. Foreign Minister Qin Gang came back from his meeting in Uzbekistan to meet Baerbock in Tianjin on April 14 and traveled with her on the high-speed rail to Beijing. During the visit, he underlined the affinity between Germany and China in striving for harmony, pointing to Confucius and Lao Tze in China and Kant and Hegel in Germany.
While in Beijing, Baerbock also visited the Lama Temple.
In her separate meetings with State Councilor Wang Yi, he underlined the importance of the Taiwan issue, stressing China’s claim to Taiwan was also the result of the post-war architecture, which China and Germany both claim to preserve. Wang Yi also said that China, in turn, had supported Germany’s reunification in 1990 and that Germany should also adhere to the same principle with regard to China and Taiwan.
And totally, out of the protocol, Baerbock had a meeting with Vice President Han Zheng, in which Han underlined the importance of Germany and China working for peace and development. According to press reports of their exchange, Baerbock said that Germany regards China as an important cooperative partner and is willing to strengthen bilateral exchanges and cooperation in various fields with China, increase personnel exchanges, and push bilateral relations to a new level.
