appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Zhenhua Lu

Kinling Lo

China said on Monday that it had Germany’s support in defending the global multilateral order, as its trade war with the US continues to escalate.
Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said the two sides had “reached an agreement that in facing a complicated and ever-changing international environment, both China and Germany should jointly uphold multilateralism, maintain the current international order and oppose behaviour that will damage the current order with abusive sanctions”.
“Both countries are firm supporters, defenders and promoters of multilateralism,” Geng said during a regular press briefing in Beijing.
The comments followed Vice-President Wang Qishan’s visit to Berlin on Friday, when he met Germany’s chancellor as well as its president and foreign minister.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday also called on France to safeguard the global multilateral trading system and oppose unilateralism and protectionism during a call with Clément Beaune, a foreign affairs adviser to French President Emmanuel Macron, the foreign ministry said.

Meanwhile, visiting Berlin on the same day as Wang Qishan, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met his German counterpart Heiko Maas, trying to persuade Germany to shut out Chinese telecoms giant Huawei from the country’s 5G market.
“The internet of the future must have Western values embedded in it,” said Pompeo, adding that one of his missions in Berlin was “to educate our friends” about the risks posed by Chinese cyber espionage, according to a report by Politico Europe.
“We share certain concerns with regard to China,” Maas was quoted as saying.
Pompeo visits Germany to talk sanctions as tensions rise between US, Iran
But Maas also said Germany had “high security standards”, which all companies hoping to bid to build the new high-speed internet network would have to meet, German broadcaster Deutsche Welle reported.
During his meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel, Wang Qishan asked the German leader to work together with China to build a more just and reasonable global governance system and in dealing with an uncertain future, according to official Chinese news agency Xinhua.
“Facing the profound and complex changes in the international situation, China always insists on doing its own share firstly, staying calm and clear-headed, showing composure, shouldering responsibility and reacting rationally,” Wang was quoted as saying.




“It is our firm belief that China should adopt a long-term view with Germany that will take into account the strategic value of such a relationship. [China] firmly supports a unified Europe and sees Europe as a trustworthy partner China can have a sustainable and predictable dialogue with, on equal footing,” Wang said.
Merkel replied that Germany and China shared a broad consensus, according to Xinhua.
“[Merkel] noted that Germany advocates strengthened international coordination and collaboration through dialogue and disagrees with … threats and exerting pressure to solve problems,” the report said.
The chancellor’s remarks echoed what she said a day earlier at Harvard University when, without naming US President Donald Trump, Merkel urged students to reject protectionism and “tear down walls of ignorance” that feed nationalism and isolationism.
US ‘solely to blame’ for collapse of trade talks, China says
“Protectionism and trade conflicts jeopardise free international trade and therefore the very foundations of our prosperity,” she said.
The vice-president’s trip to Germany came after he visited Pakistan and the Netherlands – part of a diplomatic flurry by Chinese leaders amid rising tensions between Beijing and Washington over trade, technology and national security.
President Xi Jinping will start a three-day visit to Russia on Wednesday, where he will meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and attend the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, according to China’s foreign ministry.




Wang Yiwei, a professor of international relations at Renmin University in Beijing, said the Chinese vice-president’s visit was aimed at seeking Germany’s support to counter the US, as Berlin was also “facing increasing pressure from Trump’s policies”.
Trump has repeatedly called for the European power to increase its military spending and threatened to impose tariffs on German cars.
German supermarket chain Aldi to enter China with two Shanghai stores
“Germany is also worried that a continuing [US-China] trade war will have a negative impact on its economy,” Wang Yiwei said.
He added that Pompeo “obviously wants to get countries like Germany to back the US” ahead of the Group of 20 leaders’ summit to be held in Osaka, Japan, on June 28-29.


China and EU deadlocked on medical devices, still talking on PHEV curbs: source

Chinese marques in driving seat as high petrol prices accelerate EU shift to electric cars

China’s industrial strengths must also benefit its trading partners

Hong Kong rejects EU report’s claims on freedoms as ‘unfounded and biased’

China-EU relations

China, Germany ‘agree to uphold global multilateral order’ in Berlin talks

German Chancellor Angela Merkel welcomes Chinese Vice-President Wang Qishan in Berlin on Friday. Photo: Reuters

epa07614557 German Chancellor Angela Merkel (L) and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (R) attend to give statements to the media before talks at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, 31 May 2019. Pompeo also met with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas earlier in the day. EPA-EFE/SEAN GALLUP / POOL

Security issues likely to be high on agenda as Chinese Vice-President Wang Qishan visits Germany

Chinese Vice-President Wang Qishan is due to arrive in Berlin on Friday, following visits to Pakistan and the Netherlands. Photo: Bloomberg

From left, Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission, Xi Jinping, China's president, Emmanuel Macron, France's president, and Angela Merkel, Germany's chancellor, stand in the courtyard of Elysee Palace ahead of a meeting in Paris, France, on Tuesday, March 26, 2019. Airbus SE secured a $35 billion jet deal from China during a state visit by President Xi Jinping to the French capital, dealing a blow to Boeing Co. as it grapples with the grounding of its best-selling jet. Photographer: Christophe Morin/Bloomberg

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivers a keynote address at the Israeli Embassy's Independence Day Celebration at the Mellon Auditorium in Washington DC on May 22, 2019. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP)

German firms find US less reliable than China as trading partner after getting caught between Trump and a hard place to do business

Shipping containers of China Railway Container Transport Corp at Duisport shipping port in Duisburg, Germany. Photo: Bloomberg

scmp

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visits Germany to talk sanctions as tensions rise between US, Iran

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (L) and German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (R). Photo: EPA-EFE

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks during a joint press conference with the German Foreign Minister after a meeting at Villa Borsig in north Berlin on May 31, 2019. - The US top diplomat is on a European tour that will take him to Germany, Switzerland, The Netherlands and Britain. (Photo by Odd ANDERSEN / AFP)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, and U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, right, talk as they arrive for a joint statement prior to a meeting at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Friday, May 31, 2019. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)

China says US ‘solely to blame’ for collapse of trade talks, but door remains open for negotiation

The white paper was released by the State Council Information Office. Photo: AFP

The information office of ChinaÕs State Council released the White Paper on trade talks with U.S., entitled, ÔChinaÕs Position on the China-U.S. Economic and Trade ConsultationsÕ in Beijing on June 2, 2019.  02JUN19  SCMP/Simon Song

A Chinese and US national flag hang on a fence at an international school in Beijing on December 6, 2018. (Photo by FRED DUFOUR / AFP)

Beijing has rebutted Washington’s allegations that the trade talks collapsed because it backtracked on its promises. Photo: Simon Song

‘Competition does not mean conflict’: American defence chief leaves door open to cooperation with China

Acting US secretary of defence Patrick Shanahan (left) and Chinese Minister of Defence General Wei Fenghe meet on rhe sidelines of the International Institute for Strategic Studies Asia Security Summit in Singapore on Saturday. Photo: EPA-EFE

News

China

Diplomacy

They also ‘oppose behaviour that will damage the current order with abusive sanctions’, according to foreign ministry
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, meanwhile, met his German counterpart Heiko Maas, trying to persuade the country to shut out Huawei


They also ‘oppose behaviour that will damage the current order with abusive sanctions’, according to foreign ministry.
