2024-09-26 19:08:06
China has Vladimir Putin’s back as he continues his war of aggression against Ukraine. Germany is now trying to increase the pressure on Beijing at the UN General Assembly. Successfully?
Patrick Diekmann reports from New York.
It’s not an easy start to the UN week for them. Even before the official start of the UN general debate in New York, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock meets her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi. China and Baerbock? That didn’t really fit together until now. During her visit to China in April 2023, the Green politician exchanged blows with Wang’s predecessor Qin Gang. A few months later, Baerbock called Chinese President Xi Jinping a “dictator.” Baerbock is seen as the driving force behind the federal government reducing Germany’s dependence on the People’s Republic.
Things can definitely get icy when Baerbock meets Chinese officials. If you believe Chinese diplomats, Beijing praises the exchange with Chancellor Olaf Scholz or Economics Minister Robert Habeck. But Baerbock would no longer receive an invitation to China, according to diplomatic circles. The tablecloth was cut.
Despite everything, Baerbock and Wang also have direct conversations with each other during UN Week. Little is known about the content; it is said to have been more of an exchange of well-known positions between Germany and China. But one thing becomes clear: Baerbock is also meeting the Chinese leadership with a strategy that the US government under Joe Biden is pursuing towards China: one hand is outstretched, but a fist is clenched in his pocket.
This means, first and foremost, that the West will continually make offers of cooperation to China. Of course, the federal government also sees the problem that major global challenges, such as combating the climate crisis, can only be solved with China. In his speech to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, US President Biden called on China to cooperate more – an outstretched hand. However, he also sharply criticized Beijing for Chinese support for Putin, unfair economic practices, espionage and aggressive expansion policies in the South China Sea – the fist.
In New York, Baerbock is at least trying not to let the thread of conversation with China break off. Even if there is one thing in particular that we agree on when it comes to key geopolitical issues: we disagree.
Germany is primarily critical of the Chinese role in the Ukraine conflict. Chinese President Xi Jinping wants his strategic partner Putin to win the war. Although it is not yet supplying weapons directly to the Russian army, the People’s Republic is sending some “dual use” goods that can also be used militarily. The engine of a Russian attack drone is to be produced in China. In addition, Russia receives weapons from North Korea, whose existential dependence on China is so great that such deliveries are unlikely without Beijing’s consent.
For China, the Ukraine war is a nuisance in every respect because it forces Beijing to perform an unpleasant balancing act. It is likely that the Chinese leadership expected Russia to quickly win the war. But Putin has been lost in this conflict for two and a half years and it could continue like this for a long time. And China is currently primarily following the diplomatic strategy of wanting to limit the political damage for itself – with a view to Europe.
There is one thing Beijing wants to prevent at all costs: further Western sanctions against China. The country’s own economy has been in a very tense phase since the end of the corona pandemic. The Chinese leadership does not need further trade conflicts with the West.