Scholz calls for fair competition, warns against ‘dumping’ during visit to China
EU releases blocked funds of $6.7 billion to Poland Chancellor speaks to students in Shanghai
WARSAW, Poland, April 16, (AP): The European Union disbursed 6.3 billion euros (about $6.7 billion) to Poland as a part of the 27-nation bloc’s post-pandemic recovery fund, the biggest single transfer ever to the country, a government minister said Monday.
Poland’s former national conservative government, voted out of power in October, made changes to the judiciary which the EU said violated democratic checks and balances, and so decided to block the money.
The European Commission had said at the time Poland must meet certain “milestones” to guarantee the independence of the judiciary to get the funds. Brussels emphasized that an independent judiciary is vital to respecting hte EU’s democratic norms, while some also argue that independent courts boost investors’ confidence in the country’s ability to adjudicate commercial disputes.
Katarzyna Pełczynska-Nałecz, Poland’s minister of funds and regional policy, hailed the move while stressing that the value of EU membership goes beyond money.
“Being in the EU pays off, but the EU is not only about money, which our predecessors forgot,” she tweeted. “We are united by values: democracy, equal opportunities, rule of law, civil liberties!”
Poland’s pro-European coalition of three center-left parties led by current Prime Minister Donald Tusk won parliamentary elections and took over in December. It succeeded the nationalist Law and Justice party that had ruled for eight years and introduced changes to the justice system, reproductive rights and the media that put Poland on a collision course with the EU.
The Commission announced in February that it would start releasing funds, confident in promises by the pro-EU Tusk to restore democratic norms.
The fund, known as the Recovery and Resilience Facility, was set up in 2020 and approved a 672.5 billion euro ($815 billion) recovery package a year later to help member nations recover more quickly from the coronavirus pandemic.
Poland is set to receive 25.3 billion euros (about $26.9 billion) in grants and 34.5 billion euros (nearly $36.7 billion) in loans as part of a postCOVID-19 pandemic recovery plan.
A commission’s spokesperson said Monday Poland is expected to request a total of 23 billion euros ($24.5 billion) this year.
LONDON, April 16, (KUNA): Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCO) announced on Monday, freezing assets of entities and sanctions on businesses, which support Sudanese military and Rapid Support Forces involved in Sudan’s war.
“This senseless and brutal war has devastated lives, a year on since the outbreak of fighting, we continue to see appalling atrocities against civilians, unacceptable restrictions on humanitarian access and an utter disregard for civilian life” said Minister Lord David Cameron in a statement.
He continued that the businesses that support the warring parties “must be held to account” alongside those responsible for human rights abuses.
He added that the world must not forget about Sudan, as he called for an urgent need to end the violence.
The conflict in Sudan has caused more than 8.6 million people to flee their homes, as well as 25 million people on the verge of a catastrophic hunger crisis.
BEIJING, April 16, (AP): German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called for fair competition in trade relations with China while warning about dumping and overproduction as he spoke to students in Shanghai on Monday.
Scholz is visiting China against the background of looming EU tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles and other trade-related tensions. The two countries are also split over how to handle Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“The one thing that must always be clear is that competition must be fair,” Scholz told students at Tongji University in Shanghai, according to German news agency dpa.
“Of course we would like our companies to have no restrictions, but conversely we behave exactly how we are demanding here,” he said, adding there must be no dumping or overproduction.
The European Union is mulling tariffs to protect its producers against cheaper Chinese electrical vehicle imports, which some fear will flood the European market.
The head of Germany’s auto industry association, the VDA, expressed opposition to such tariffs ahead of Scholz’s visit. Hildegard Müller told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper in comments published Saturday the tariffs would not help the European and German auto industries and instead “could quickly have a negative effect in a trade conflict.”
“Current business with China secures a large number of jobs here in Germany,” Müller said.
Scholz made comparisons to reservations years ago when Japanese and Korean automakers entered the German market.
“There was great agitation in the newspapers: ‘Now the Japanese cars will come and clean up’ - nonsense,” he told the Tongji University students. He said there are German cars in China that were made with Chinese manufacturers, and at some point there would also be Chinese cars in Germany and Europe.
Scholz began his three-day China trip on Sunday in the industrial hub of Chongqing, where he and his delegation of ministers and business executives visited a partially German-funded company and other sites in the vast city, which is a production base for China’s auto and other industries.
He is set to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang on Tuesday in Beijing before returning to Berlin later in the day.
Scholz is expected to question Xi about China’s support for Russia’s economy two years into Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Prior to his arrival, the German leader posted on social platform X that he had discussed the “massive” Russian air attacks on civilian energy infrastructure with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday, and declared that Berlin would “stand unbreakably by Ukraine’s side.”
China has refused to criticize Russia’s aggression. Beijing maintains trade relations with Moscow, and the two nations carry out joint military drills. A U.S. intelligence report last week found China has increased equipment sales to Russia to help in its war effort against Ukraine.
Berlin is also worried about a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a self-ruled island 130 kilometers (80 miles) off of China’s coast that Beijing claims as its own.
Scholz told students in Shanghai that borders “must not be moved by force.”
“We should not be afraid of our
neighbors,” he said, emphasizing the importance of international institutions such as the World Trade Organization.
Despite the political and trade frictions, China was Germany’s top trading partner for the eighth straight year in 2023, with 254.1 billion euros ($271 billion) in goods and
services exchanged between the sides, slightly more than what Germany traded with the U.S. but a 15.5% contraction from the year before.
This is Scholz’s second trip to China since he became chancellor in late 2021. His previous visit was in November 2022 and essentially was
a one-day trip because of the strict COVID restrictions still in place at the time.
It is his first visit since the German government last year presented its China strategy, which met with criticism from Beijing. Premier Li and a delegation of senior officials visited Berlin in June.