Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang held talks with his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock in Beijing on Friday. The meeting was held under the framework of the China-Germany strategic dialogue on diplomatic and security affairs.
Earlier this morning after his visit in Uzbekistan, Qin visited local German companies with Baerbock in Tianjin and then they came to Beijing together by high-speed train, spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry Wang Wenbin said on Friday at a regular presser.
“It is the first official visit of Foreign Minister Baerbock to China, and I believe that through the visit with Qin in Tianjin, Baerbock gained a more intuitive and vivid understanding of China’s development and Sino-German cooperation for mutual benefit,” the spokesperson said.
The two sides agreed that China and Germany should carry out all-round exchanges, promote respect for each other’s core interests in a pragmatic and open spirit, strengthen communication and coordination in international affairs, and join hands to address the common risks and challenges faced by all mankind, Wang said.
China also systematically elaborated its stance on the Taiwan issue to the German side, Wang said.
On Ukraine issues, noting that the only solution to the crisis in Ukraine is to promote peace talks, Wang said that China hopes all parties concerned could remain calm and objective and make joint efforts to resolve the crisis through negotiations.
Stressing that it is a year of great exchanges and cooperation between China and Germany, Wang said that both sides will take this visit as an opportunity to strengthen dialogue and cooperation, inject stability and new momentum for world peace and development.
European leaders are becoming increasingly supportive of French President Emmanuel Macron’s push for “strategic autonomy” away from the United States, European Council President Charles Michel said on Tuesday.
More and more European Union leaders have echoed Macron’s comments that Europe should resist pressure to become “America’s followers,” Michel told the U.S.-based POLITICO news service.
“On the issue of the relationship with the United States, it’s clear that there can be nuances and sensitivities around the table of the European Council… I think quite a few really think like Emmanuel Macron,” the European Council president said.
“There is indeed a great attachment that remains present, and Emmanuel Macron has said nothing else, for this alliance with the United States. But if this alliance with the United States would suppose that we blindly, systematically follow the position of the United States on all issues, no,” he said.
Macron emphasized the importance of “European sovereignty” on Tuesday during a state visit to the Netherlands.
Delivering a speech at the Amare Theater in The Hague, Macron said the concept might have once sounded like just a “French idea,” or even “wishful thinking,” but pointed to the danger of a Europe that is too dependent on other world powers and unable to decide for itself.
