China lodges complaint over German foreign minister's 'dictator' jibe

China has registered its protest with Germany following comments by German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who referred to President Xi Jinping as a "dictator." The Chinese foreign ministry termed this as both "absurd" and an "open political provocation," as per Reuters. Interestingly, China is Germany's largest trade partner.

Baerbock made these remarks during a live interview with Fox News when discussing Russia's war on Ukraine.

She posed the question, "If Putin were to win this war, what sign would that be for other dictators in the world, like Xi, like the Chinese president?"

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Mao Ning, a spokesperson for China's foreign ministry, expressed China's strong disapproval.

“China is strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposes the German side’s remarks, which are extremely absurd, a serious infringement of China’s political dignity and an open political provocation," Mao said Monday (September 18).

“China has made serious inquiries to the German side through diplomatic channels,” she added.

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Baerbock is known for her vocal criticism of China.

Baerbock made headlines when she described certain aspects of a trip to China as "more than shocking".

Most notably, she expressed her view that Beijing was increasingly emerging as a systemic rival rather than a trade partner.

Earlier, Baerbock cautioned China over its actions towards Taiwan and said a military escalation “would be a horror scenario for the entire world.”

This is not the first instance of a world leader referring to President Xi Jinping as a "dictator."

In June, US President Joe Biden also used the same term, a day after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken concluded a visit to China aimed at stabilising bilateral relations.

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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had also urged China not to supply weapons to aid Russia's war in Ukraine. Germany’s military intelligence agency (MAD) also earlier reported an increase in Russian and Chinese espionage activities within the country.

Germany-China trade ties

Despite political tensions and criticism, China remains Germany's top trade partner.

Bilateral trade reached a recordlast year, making China Germany's most important trading partner for the seventh consecutive year.

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Trade figures reflected this ongoing economic relationship, with goods valued at around 298 billion euros being traded between the two nations in 2022, marking a 21 percentincrease from last year.

(With inputs from agencies)

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