German chancellor to visit China next month

BERLIN

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday announced plans for a visit to China as Berlin is reviewing its overall strategy toward Beijing.

Speaking on the sidelines of the EU summit in Brussels, Scholz said: “I have been planning a visit (to China). We are trying to find a date for that visit.”

It would be his first visit to China since becoming chancellor late last year.

According to Scholz’s spokesman, the trip would take place in the beginning of November.

The planned visit comes at a time when the German Foreign Ministry is working on a new China strategy following the experience of being economically too dependent on Russia.

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock emphasized that after the experience of over-relying economically on Russia, Germany should no longer make itself dependent on any country “that does not share our values.”

Such mistakes should not be made twice.

Economic dependency makes Germany “politically blackmailable,” she told the Munich-based Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper when it comes to dealing with China.

“It’s not about complete decoupling, which is not possible in one of the largest countries. But opening up alternative markets in Asia, diversification and risk management,” Baerbock added.

German intelligence agencies have also warned about China, saying the Asian powerhouse could in the long run be a far greater threat to German security interests than Russia, according to a report by the German Press Agency (Dpa).