German Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner is calling for a “more confident” approach to China after the Chinese side canceled his scheduled visit to Beijing tomorrow.

The Chinese ministry withdrew its invitation to Mr. Lindner over the weekend, citing “scheduling reasons,” according to the German finance ministry.

The visit was aimed at preparing the German-Chinese consultations to be held on June 20 in Berlin, while the German finance minister is heading to the G7 finance ministers meeting over the weekend in Japan.

Commenting on developments, Mr. Lindner told The Pioneer website that Germany needs a new approach to China:with more confidence and realism and less “velvet touch”“, emphasizing that bilateral relations should not be based only on economic deals. “We need a better balance than in the past, when we paid too much attention to the economy. And when differences arise over values, respect for international law is key.“, he decided.

Referring to calls for a “separation” of the German economy from the Chinese market, Christian Lindner emphasized that “despite our systemic competition, it would be naive from the point of view of our economic development to think that we can simply switch off.”

It is believed that the real reason for canceling the visit on the Chinese side may have to do with the finance minister’s party, the Liberal Democrats (FDP), as Liberal Education Minister Bettina Stark-Wahinger recently visited Taiwan, causing strong discontent in Beijing. However, Mr. Lindner himself has recently criticized China’s position on Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Today, however, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang is meeting in Berlin with his German counterpart, Analena Burbock.

Source: RES-IPE