Global Courant 2023-04-14 13:51:26
BEIJING — German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Friday urged Beijing to “ask the Russian aggressor to stop the war in Ukraine,” saying “No other country has more influence over Russia than China.”
After meeting her Chinese counterpart Qin Gang in Beijing, Ms Baerbock said she also expressed concern over human rights issues and warned of the dangers of escalating tensions with Taiwan.
Her visit to the Chinese capital comes a week after that of French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission head Dr Ursula von der Leyen, who also urged Beijing to play a greater role in solving the crisis .
“It is good that China has indicated its commitment to a solution, but I have to say honestly that I wonder why the Chinese position so far does not include a call to the aggressor Russia to stop the war,” Ms Baerbock said.
After the meeting, China announced that Defense Minister Li Shangfu would visit Russia on Sunday for a four-day visit at the invitation of his counterpart Sergei Shoigu.
China has positioned itself as a neutral mediator throughout the conflict, but its refusal to condemn the invasion and a recent trip to Moscow by President Xi Jinping have led Western powers to accuse China of favoring its traditional ally Russia.
Qin said on Friday that China believed “the only way to solve the crisis in Ukraine is to promote peace and talks”.
“The Ukrainian crisis has developed to this day and the lessons are profound and worthy of deep reflection by all sides. Territory is indivisible and security is also indivisible,” he said.
“Without recognition of the security interests of any party, crises and conflicts are inevitable,” he added.
Human rights ‘constrained’
In a statement ahead of her trip, Ms Baerbock said she was keen to strike the “right balance” with China, which she says is “increasingly looking to shape the world order according to its own designs”.
She told Mr Qin on Friday that Germany was “concerned that the space for civil society involvement in China is shrinking and that human rights are being curtailed”.
China on Monday sentenced two prominent human rights lawyers to more than 10 years in prison.
Mr. Xu Zhiyong and fellow campaigner Ding Jiaxi were convicted of “undermining state power” following closed-door trials.
Both were leading figures in the New Citizens’ Movement, a civil rights group that called for constitutional reform and criticized government corruption.
