Decoupling from China ‘the wrong answer’, says German leader

@Olaf Scholtz - and what is the right answer !!??? To sell our ally Taiwan and neighboring countries to China and support Russia in war on Ukraine(Europe) !!????? Solve priorities first and then your "Decoupling" game....decide whether you do like to be leaders of the free world or supporter of oppressive regimes such as was the regime of Stalin(USSR) and nazi Germany...you can't condemn Putin if you are heading in same way as Putin sir...I hope Germany remains leader of the free world on European continent and a significant dot on the global map....

From https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3195722/decoupling-china-wrong-answer-says-german-leader

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government has adopted a tougher stance on China. Photo: Reuters

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who is reportedly planning a trip to Beijing early next month, said decoupling from China would be the wrong path as the two countries marked the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties on Tuesday.


Scholz plans to travel to China around November 3-4 for the first time since taking office in December, according to Bloomberg and Politico, which would make him the first Group of 7 leader to do so since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.


Pending official confirmation from Beijing and Berlin, he is also expected to become the first Western leader to meet President Xi Jinping after the Chinese leader secures his norm-breaking third term in office at the Communist Party’s national congress, which starts on Sunday.

• Olaf Scholz says Germany ‘must continue to do business with China’ while also trading with Africa, South America and the rest of Asia
• German chancellor is reportedly planning a trip to Beijing next month – the first visit by a G7 leader since the Covid-19 pandemic began

The Post reported in July that Beijing had invited Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron to visit China, along with the leaders of Italy and Spain, in a bid to counter Washington’s alliance-based approach to confronting China.



Scholz and Xi are expected to meet again soon at the G20 summit in Bali around November 12-14, where Xi plans to have an in-person meeting with US President Joe Biden for the first time since the American leader took office.


Scholz, who described Beijing as a “systemic rival” during a trip to Japan early this year, defended his nuanced approach to China at a business conference in Berlin on Tuesday and stressed the need to diversify political and economic ties.



“Globalisation has been a success story that enabled prosperity for many people. We must defend it,” Scholz said. “Decoupling is the wrong answer.”


“We don’t have to decouple from some countries,” he said. “I say emphatically we must continue to do business with China. But we also have to ensure that we trade with the rest of the world, look at the rest of Asia, Africa, South America – that’s the opportunity.”



The Post reported in July that Beijing had invited Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron to visit China, along with the leaders of Italy and Spain, in a bid to counter Washington’s alliance-based approach to confronting China.




Scholz and Xi are expected to meet again soon at the G20 summit in Bali around November 12-14, where Xi plans to have an in-person meeting with US President Joe Biden for the first time since the American leader took office.


Scholz, who described Beijing as a “systemic rival” during a trip to Japan early this year, defended his nuanced approach to China at a business conference in Berlin on Tuesday and stressed the need to diversify political and economic ties.



“Globalisation has been a success story that enabled prosperity for many people. We must defend it,” Scholz said. “Decoupling is the wrong answer.”


“We don’t have to decouple from some countries,” he said. “I say emphatically we must continue to do business with China. But we also have to ensure that we trade with the rest of the world, look at the rest of Asia, Africa, South America – that’s the opportunity.”


China and Germany marked the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties on Tuesday. Photo: Shutterstock


Scholz’s coalition government has adopted a tougher stance on China regarding human rights, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Xinjiang – a departure from his predecessor Angela Merkel’s “business first” approach to Beijing.



Germany is working on a new China strategy that seeks to balance close trade ties with Beijing and the need to reduce strategic dependence on it, especially in the wake of the Ukraine war.


Xi exchanged congratulatory letters with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Tuesday, with the Chinese leader calling on Berlin to view the 50th anniversary of official ties “as an opportunity to build on past achievements and forge ahead into the future”, according to Xinhua.



Noting China is Germany’s top trading partner, Steinmeier was quoted by Xinhua as stressing the importance of economic and trade cooperation in bilateral ties.