Olaf Scholz at Xi Jinping in China: "Scholz lets the criticism roll off"

»There was the question: 'Is she coming at an inopportune time?' because Xi Jinping has just been confirmed for a third term by the Communist Party Congress.

No one has been this powerful since Mao.

And the question was: Doesn't that seem a bit like the loyal vassal rushing in from Germany?

Scholz sees it all completely differently.

He lets this criticism roll off him, he seems relatively undeterred.

And one argument that his people can hear in his companion is: When else should one have talked?

And talking is always better than not talking.”

"Ladies and gentlemen, it is right and proper that I am here in Beijing today."

»Scholz feels he has been treated unfairly by the criticism because he actually wants, and that is his declared goal, to distance himself from Angela Merkel's China policy.

It was a bit too friendly for him.«

»We also discussed the issue of human rights.

My conviction is clear: human rights are universal in their validity, this applies to individual civil and freedom rights as well as to economic, social and cultural rights.«

»I told President Xi that it is important for China to exert its influence on Russia.

It is about adhering to the principles of the United Nations Charter that we have all agreed on.

Principles such as the sovereignty and territorial integrity of each country, which are also important to China.«

»Of course, this trip is viewed so critically because many mistakes were made in dealing with Russia.

One has become dependent on energy policy.

Now many fear that they are already technologically dependent on China.

Olaf Scholz has a completely different opinion.

Here, too, he believes he knows the way out and is going his own way.«

“You had to have two PCR tests before you left.

After entry, a third PCR test was carried out and it is hardly possible to meet people outside of a clearly defined bubble.

Among other things, this means that Scholz does not meet any human rights activists during the trip, no dissidents, no representatives of civil society.

But he has a twelve-strong business delegation on board.

That also brought him a lot of criticism beforehand.«

»There won't be a big deal that will be made.

It is said that the main thing is, after years of isolation from the pandemic, to regain a sense of how China has actually developed, what opportunities it still offers and what difficulties are waiting here.«