Chancellor Scholz has just visited the People's Republic of China. Now Beijing is angering the EU by not showing a recorded critical speech by Parliament President Michel. In addition, President Xi notes an unstable security situation and wants to strengthen his country's preparations for war.
China's President Xi Jinping warns of security challenges in his country. The state broadcaster CCTV quoted the head of state as saying that the security situation was increasingly unstable and uncertain. The People's Republic will therefore comprehensively strengthen military training and war preparations.
Since Xi came to power in 2012, he has set China on an increasingly authoritarian course. Priorities are security, government control of the economy in the name of "common prosperity," more assertive diplomacy, and a stronger military. In addition, the takeover of the democratically governed island republic of Taiwan is being sought. Xi, who expanded his power base at the CCP convention last month, sees the US as an international rival and pursues expanding China's international influence.
Beijing also snubbed the EU by not showing a pre-recorded critical opening speech by EU Council President Charles Michel at the major trade fair in Shanghai. The video was supposed to be shown on Friday at the opening ceremony of the China International Import Expo. Michel wanted to sharply criticize "Russia's illegal war against Ukraine". He also wanted to urge China to do more to end the bloodshed in Ukraine. So far, China has consistently refused to criticize Russia's war.
It should also be emphasized that Europe will learn "important lessons" from the conflict. Europe has been too dependent on Russia for fossil fuels, leading to a trade imbalance. Europe wanted to "avoid excessive dependencies" in its trade relations in the future, said diplomats who knew the speech. "This also applies to our trade relations with China."
The high level of dependence on the People's Republic is viewed increasingly critically in the EU. According to the Dortmund chip manufacturer Elmos, the federal government recently prohibited the sale of wafer production to the subsidiary of a Chinese company. The German government's permission for the Chinese state shipping company Cosco to enter an operating company at a terminal in the port of Hamburg had previously sparked discussions.
The EU acknowledged that Michel's speech was not shown. "As requested by the Chinese authorities, we had indeed transmitted a pre-recorded message which was ultimately not shown," said Michel's spokesman Barend Leyts. "We raised this through normal diplomatic channels."
Neither the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs nor the co-organizers of the Expo wanted to comment on the process. Other high-level officials who spoke at the ceremony after Chinese President Xi Jinping included the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the director-general of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the presidents of Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Belarus, according to the fair's official website. Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko is a loyal ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited the People's Republic of China just a few days ago. During his controversial trip, he also addressed Taiwan and human rights abuses in the country. He had also appealed to Xi to use his influence over Putin.
