Germany’s Scholz kicks off a three-day China trip
Chancellor Olaf Scholz kicked off a three-day tour of China on Sunday to shore up ties with Germany’s top trade partner and address rifts over issues including Chinese trade practices and its support for Russia.
The chancellor’s longest visit to any state since taking office is likely to be overshadowed by Iran’s attack on Israel, and it is also being watched for how much Germany backs the European Union’s probe into Chinese state subsidies for electric vehicle makers.
Scholz, who is travelling with several German CEOS, started his trip in the southwestern megacity of Chongqing.
He will also go to Shanghai and Beijing where he is set to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang.
Upon arrival, Scholz was kept informed of developments in the Middle East on the flight, government sources said.
German officials said Beijing could play a positive role in cooling the rapidly escalating tensions in the Middle East.
China played a mediating role between Iran and Saudi Arabia last year, and Reuters reported China had asked Iran to help rein in attacks on ships in the Red Sea by the Yemenis, or risk harming business relations with Beijing.
On Sunday, Scholz visited German auto supplier Bosch’s hydrogen fuel cell plant in Chongqing, putting in the spotlight on an area of rising tensions.
The EU is carrying out several probes into whether Chinese green tech exports like battery EVS that it says have benefited from state subsidies and which could harm local producers.
Scholz is also expected to address China’s support for Russia. German officials on Friday bluntly said Beijing’s support and exports to Russia were enabling Moscow to wage a war of aggression in
Germany will Us-made Patriot supply a air defence system and air defence missiles to Ukraine at a “critical time” as Kyiv struggles to defend its energy system from Russian bombardment, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday.
A German government spokesperson said in a statement that the two leaders discussed measures to further strengthen Ukraine’s air defence.
Germany will hand over the Patriot system immediately and it will be in addition to air defence systems that were already delivered and planned, the defence ministry said in a post on X.
Russia has staged three massive airstrikes on power stations and substations in recent weeks, prompting Kyiv to issue desperate appeals for supplies of high-end air defences.
“Germany will deliver an additional Patriot air defence system to Ukraine,” Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on X.