Secretary of State Annalena Baerbock warns China against taking any action against Taiwan. Beijing promptly complained officially - and the minister followed suit. At the same time, she states that the ties between Germany and the USA are closer than ever before.
Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has angered the leadership in Beijing with sharp criticism of China's threatening gestures towards Taiwan. The head of the European department at the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Wang Lutong, officially protested to the new German ambassador in Beijing, Patricia Flor. He spoke of "wrong comments" by Baerbock, as emerged from a tweet by the senior Chinese diplomat. The Taiwan question is an "internal matter of China".
Baerbock traveled to New York yesterday, Monday, to attend the NPT Review Conference. After her arrival, she said: "We don't accept it if international law is broken and a larger neighbor attacks its smaller neighbor in violation of international law - and of course that also applies to China." Baerbock added that in view of the "brutal Russian war of aggression" against Ukraine, it is important to make it clear that the international community does not accept such behavior.
In a speech on transatlantic relations at a New York university, Baerbock followed up again. "We have learned painfully in the past few months since February 24 that aggressive rhetoric can lead to dangerous action," she said. "China's statements regarding Taiwan have raised serious questions." Shortly before Baerbock's statements, US top politician Nancy Pelosi had landed on a visit to Taiwan.
The actual topic of Baerbock's speech in New York was the relationship between Europe and North America. The title: "Seizing the Transatlantic Moment: Our Shared Responsibility in a New World". Baerbock advocated a transatlantic "leadership partnership" based on three pillars: security cooperation, a rule-based international order and strengthening democracy. She stressed that the ties between Europe and North America are "perhaps closer today than at any time since the end of the Cold War" in light of the Ukraine war.
In the speech, Baerbock supported the protest movement for abortion rights in the USA. The Green politician paid tribute to the hundreds of thousands of demonstrators who took to the streets in the United States for women's rights. "As a wife and a mother of two, I wholeheartedly share her feelings," Baerbock said. "Every woman has the right to make decisions about her own body."
At the end of June, the Supreme Court - the highest court in the USA - overturned the right to abortion, which had existed for almost 50 years. Because there is no statewide law protecting the right to abortion, legislation now rests with the states. Republican-governed states in particular are trying to establish restrictive abortion laws as quickly as possible. Some of them were stopped again, at least temporarily, by local courts.
In the evening Baerbock travels on to Canada. During her inaugural visit to Montreal, she will meet Secretary of State Melanie Joly. Canada is a NATO partner of Germany and belongs to the G7 of leading democratic economic powers. Germany currently chairs this group of states.
