Global Courant
BERLIN
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday advocated a “balanced” policy towards China, emphasizing the importance of trade ties with the world’s second-largest economy.
“It is clear that China will continue to grow economically and China’s international trade relations should not be hampered,” he said at a press conference in Berlin.
“But there are also security issues to consider. Military security is an issue and other questions come into play. And you have to strike a balance here,” he added.
Asked about the German government’s new National Security Strategy and carefully written statements about China in this document, Scholz defended his government’s moderate approach.
Saying “We do not want separation, we want de-risking,” Akıncı said that this point of view is also reflected in the document.
“It has become a common language in the G-7 that we use regularly in the European Union. “We’ve also used those terms a long time ago because that’s really our point of view,” he said.
Scholz argued that Germany should maintain cooperation with China while reducing unilateral dependencies.
China is both a competitor and a partner
The German government’s National Security Strategy document, released Wednesday, identified China as both a partner and a systemic competitor.
The document raised concerns about China’s increasingly assertive foreign policy and emphasized that some of Beijing’s actions were contrary to Western interests and values.
However, he also underlined the importance of dialogue and cooperation with China in areas of common interest.
“We’ve seen the elements of competition and competitiveness increase in recent years, but at the same time, China remains a partner without which many of the most pressing global challenges cannot be solved,” the government said.
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