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‘No separate deals with China’: EU leaders speak out against Scholz trip to Beijing
- As EU officials met on Friday, several leaders stressed a ‘single voice’ on China
- German leader will visit China early next month, along with a delegation of German businesses
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Finbarr Berminghamin Brussels
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s China policy has been criticised by his governing coalition at home, and there are signs that it may be causing friction at a European level too.
Scholz on Friday confirmed he would visit China early next month, along with a delegation of German businesses, in a move that has distressed some members of his governing coalition, who are pushing for a tougher German policy on China.
Speaking to reporters after the conclusion of a two-day European Council meeting, Scholz said there had been “no vote on deglobalisation or to get out of China” when the leaders of the EU’s 27 member states discussed China for the first time in 12 months.
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“We are liberal democracies, and have no illusions about who we are dealing with,” Scholz said.
He also confirmed he had spoken with French President Emmanuel Macron about his own trip to China, which is also expected in November, but had decided to make his “inaugural” trip to China on his own.
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Le Monde, the French newspaper, reported on Friday that Macron had proposed the pair go together.
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