German Foreign Minister Annelena Baerbock said that a war between China and Taiwan would have vast and destabilising for the whole world and said that her country was ‘watching the growing tensions in the Taiwan Strait with great concern.’
Baerbock was speaking after meeting her Chinese counterpart, Qin Gang, in Beijing.
She described the prospect of a war in that region as a ‘horror scenario’.
Her stance was at marked variance with the position taken by French president Emmanuel Macron in China last week. He said: ‘Do we [Europeans] have an interest in speeding up on the subject of Taiwan? No. The worst of things would be to think that we Europeans must be followers on this subject and adapt ourselves to an American rhythm and a Chinese overreaction.’
Baerbock said that trade and investment were in everyone’s interest, but that it was risky to be in a situation of overreliance on any one partner. She also stressed the importance of human rights, saying that economic advantages at the expense of human rights was not acceptable.
She added that China should use its relationship with Russia to persuade it to end its invasion of Ukraine – and said: ‘I have to be honest and say I ask myself why China’s positioning doesn’t include the call on aggressor Russia to stop the war.’
Qin Gang said that certain countries were abetting ‘separatists’ in Taiwan, and that correct position in terms of a ‘One China’ policy would be to oppose Taiwanese independence.
He said that different countries had different standards of human rights and that China was not interested in Western criticism. ‘The last thing China needs is to be lectured by the west,’ he said.
On Ukraine, he said that China was not delivering arms to belligerents, and would not do so in future. This was probably intended as a swipe at Germany, which has been active in supplying arms to Ukraine.