The German Vice Chancellor warns China of the consequences of the Russian position

German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck has once again warned the Chinese government of the economic consequences of its support for Russia in the war against Ukraine.

German and European security interests are directly affected by Russia’s war against Ukraine, Habeck, who is also Germany’s economic minister, said in Beijing on Saturday during a meeting with representatives of the Chinese government on climate issues.

Habeck echoed similar comments he made Friday.

The Chinese side was led by Habeck’s counterpart, Zheng Shanjie, the chairman of the powerful National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). The authority is charged with guiding the development of the Chinese economy.

“We would act differently and certainly not as hard when we analyze where we depend on raw materials and technical goods if this war or Chinese support for Russia in this war did not exist,” Habeck emphasized.

Things couldn’t be separated, he added. “Our relationship, our direct relationship, has already been negatively affected.”

In the trade dispute over tariffs on cheap Chinese electric cars, Habeck called on the Chinese side to take the European Commission’s findings seriously.

The Brussels authority accuses the Chinese government of unfair subsidies and has threatened to impose high tariffs. China retaliated by announcing an anti-dumping investigation into imported products from the European Union involving pork and by-products.

But only on Thursday did China accuse the European Commission of asking far too detailed and far-reaching questions in the subsidy investigation.

Habeck warned against trade barriers and the closing of markets, but also against unfair competition with state favoritism towards companies. Neither Germany nor China could have any interest in this, he said.