Beijing has strongly criticized the German FM for labeling President Xi a despot, calling her phrases “open political provocation”
The Chinese Foreign Ministry has summoned German ambassador Patricia Flor after Berlin’s high diplomat, Annalena Baerbock, referred to Chinese President Xi Jinping as a “dictator.”
The ambassador “was summoned to the Chinese Foreign Ministry [on Sunday],” a spokesman from the German Foreign Ministry advised AFP on Monday.
Baerbock made her remark whereas on a go to to New York on Thursday. Speaking to Fox News, she claimed that if the West allowed Ukraine to lose its battle with Russia, this is able to embolden “other dictators in the world…Like Xi, the Chinese president.”
Beijing was “extremely dissatisfied” with Baerbock’s phrases, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning advised reporters earlier on Monday. Mao mentioned that Baerbock’s “absurd” feedback “violate China’s political dignity” and are tantamount to an “open political provocation.”
Relations between Berlin and Beijing have deteriorated as of late, with Germany calling for diminished financial reliance on China in its first-ever China technique, which was printed in July. Despite China being Germany’s largest buying and selling companion, the doc branded Beijing a “systemic rival.”
In labeling Xi a “dictator,” Baerbock adopted within the footsteps of US President Joe Biden, who utilized the identical descriptor to the Chinese chief in June. Biden’s assertion got here instantly after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Xi in Beijing, and reportedly triggered American officers to reassure their Chinese counterparts that Biden’s phrases didn’t characterize a shift in US coverage.
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