German Foreign Minister Analena Burbock gave an interview to the American Fox News network on the occasion of her official visit to the United States. In a question about Ukraine, the German leader of the Greens and an important partner of the Government formed by Olaf Scholz called the President of China a “dictator”.
Burbock’s position, of course, has opened a diplomatic war with Beijing, which today officially demanded an explanation from the German ambassador in China’s capital, while the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs gave an official press conference in which it described the German position as unacceptable and casus belli.
This is not the first time Burbok has attacked China. Last August, he stressed that China was a challenge to the “basic values by which we live together in this world”, saying that Beijing was becoming more of a systemic adversary than a trading partner.
Germany-China relations are, according to analysts, at their lowest level in 30 years with the relationship showing signs of deterioration. Germany today, apart from China’s stance on the Ukraine war, seems to have important open fronts with Beijing in the field of energy, trade and exports of technological products.
The trade balance between China and Germany in the last two years shows a significant drop, especially in imports from Beijing to Berlin, while based on what the American media reports, a major war is also raging in the field of raw materials, with Beijing systematically “hitting” German contracts especially in Europe.
However, Germany’s move to raise the tone to such a high and official level shows that there is more to it than the economy. Berlin appears to believe that China is the determining factor in whatever developments occur in the ongoing war in Ukraine. In this, Germany seems to have “mapped” intentions and movements from Beijing regarding cooperation and supplies to Moscow.
For Germany, China seems to have made the decision to support Russia and Putin in this particular war in order to secure even bigger and above all cheaper energy contracts. The movements of Germany and Berbock in this context are clear and it should be considered a science fiction scenario that the German Chancellor does not agree with the statements of his Minister.
In any case, the new escalation in relations between the leading economy in Europe and the second largest economy on the planet is not just a small event. German media note that the new escalation may eventually lead to a highly competitive situation, while they do not rule out that the Chinese Foreign Ministry may request the departure of a large part of the diplomatic staff of the German embassy in the immediate future.
