Germany’s foreign minister has warned China not to use military force against Taiwan, striking a different tone from French president Emmanuel Macron who has come under fire for saying Europe should distance itself from the issue.
Annalena Baerbock said after a meeting in Beijing with China’s foreign minister Qin Gang on Friday that conflicts must be solved peacefully and that Berlin was monitoring the situation in Taiwan with concern.
“A unilateral, violent change of the status quo would be unacceptable for us Europeans,” she said, according to Reuters.
Baerbock’s tougher stance on Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own territory and has threatened to take by force, follows controversy over a Beijing visit by Macron, during which he warned that Europe should not get “caught up in crises that are not ours”.
Critics said the timing of Macron’s remarks, made in interviews with Les Echos and Politico published on Sunday, was unfortunate at a time when tensions between the US and China were deepening over Taiwan, and Europe was heavily dependent on American support for Ukraine in the war with Russia.
The comments from Baerbock, who is in China on a three-day visit, come as the EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell also sought to convey a tougher message on Taiwan.
The EU’s position on Taiwan had not changed, Borrell said in a speech published on Friday. He had planned to deliver the speech in Beijing this week but his trip was cancelled after he caught Covid-19.
The EU remained committed to its “one China policy”, which recognises Beijing as the sole legal government of China. But on Taiwan, “any attempt to change the status quo by force would be unacceptable”, he said.
Baerbock also urged China to persuade Russia to end the war in Ukraine, saying President Xi Jinping’s recent trip to Moscow had shown that no other country had more influence on Russia than China. “The decision as to how it uses this influence directly affects Europe’s core interests,” she said.
She added that just as China had successfully worked to reconcile Saudi Arabia and Iran, the west was hoping Beijing could play a similar role to end the war in Ukraine, adding that it had a “special responsibility” to do so as a permanent member of the UN Security Council.
Baerbock noted China’s recent peace initiative for Ukraine. “But I have to say openly that I wonder why, as part of its positioning, China has yet to demand of the Russian aggressor that it stop the war,” she said. “We all know that President [Vladimir] Putin can do that any time.”
Baerbock also warned China not to send weapons to Russia. In a joint press conference, Qin responded that China “is not supplying any weapons to the parties in the conflict and won’t do so in the future, either”.
He said Beijing also had strict controls over the export of so-called dual-use products that have both a civilian and military application. Qin said China’s role in Ukraine was to “promote reconciliation” and try to initiate peace talks. “We will not pour oil into the fire,” he said.
On Ukraine, Borrell warned that China must contribute to the search for a political solution to the war “based on Russia’s withdrawal from the Ukrainian territory”. Otherwise, it would be “extremely difficult, if not impossible, for the European Union to maintain a relationship of trust with China, which I would like to see”.
He also said it “would be helpful” if Xi spoke to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Read the full article here
