“No other country has more influence on Russia than China,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Friday, urging Beijing to ask “the Russian aggressor to stop the war” in Ukraine.
“I have to say openly that I wonder why the Chinese position so far does not include a request to the Russian aggressor to stop the war,” she told a press conference in Beijing. alongside his Chinese counterpart Qin Gang.
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent visit to Moscow showed, according to Ms. Baerbock, “that no other country has more influence on Russia than China and the decision to use this influence directly affects the essential interests of Europe”.
“In the same way that China has successfully engaged in a peaceful balance between Iran and Saudi Arabia, we want China to pressure Russia to finally end its aggression and that it participates in a peaceful solution to the conflict,” added the minister, who is making her first trip to China.
After this meeting, China announced that its Defense Minister Li Shangfu would visit Russia on Sunday.
He will meet his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu there to discuss together from April 16 to 18 “bilateral cooperation in the field of defense, as well as questions of global and regional security”, indicated the Russian Ministry of Defense.
Annalena Baerbock’s visit comes a week after that of French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen who also called on Beijing, close to Moscow, to play a role for peace in Ukraine.
In recent weeks, international pressure has increased to push China to intervene with Russia and bring it to the negotiating table.
Since the beginning of the conflict, Beijing has declared itself officially neutral, without ever condemning the Russian invasion.
“China has always believed that the only way to resolve the Ukrainian crisis is to promote peace and talks,” Qin Gang said on Friday.
“China stands ready to continue working for peace and hopes that all parties involved in the crisis will remain objective and calm, and jointly make constructive efforts to resolve the crisis through negotiations,” he said. -he adds.
The German minister was also very firm on the question of Taiwan where China has again just launched large-scale military maneuvers.
“A military escalation in the Taiwan Strait where 50% of world trade passes every day would be a disaster scenario for the whole world,” she said.
“Taiwan belongs to China,” Qin Gang retorted. And “no one hopes more than compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait for the maintenance of peace and stability […] and the peaceful reunification of the motherland”, he added.
Emmanuel Macron aroused a wave of incomprehension in the United States and Europe on his return from China by calling on the European Union not to be “follower” of Washington or Beijing on the question of Taiwan, remarks sometimes interpreted as a disinterest of France on this subject.
A destabilization of the strait “would have dramatic consequences for all countries in the world and therefore for the entire world economy”, said Ms. Baerbock, calling on the parties to “prevent any escalation”.
Thursday, the minister had assured that the Europeans were united in their policy vis-à-vis Beijing.
“There is no other partner with whom we coordinate so closely in the European Union as with our French friends,” she said.
On Friday, she also expressed concern “that the scope for civil society in China continues to shrink and human rights are curtailed.”
She cited the situation of the Uyghur community in Xinjiang, which was “documented in black and white in the report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights”.
Published in September, this report – a mixture of interviews carried out by its services and information of first and second hand – raises the possibility of “crimes against Humanity” in the region.
“Each country has a different national situation, different history and culture, human rights have no universally applicable standard,” Qin Gang retorted.
“Today, Xinjiang is socially stable, economically prosperous, ethnically united, religiously harmonious, and its people live and work in peace and happiness,” he said.
04/14/2023 17:31:07 – Beijing (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
