BERLIN – State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Tuesday that as two major independent forces in the world, China and Germany should strengthen strategic consultation, deepen strategic coordination and expand strategic cooperation, in a bid to take on three tasks.
Wang made the remarks during talks with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas.
3 major choices
Wang said the current world is facing three major choices – multilateralism or unilateralism, openness or closeness, cooperation or confrontation.
The first task, Wang said, is to strengthen global anti-epidemic cooperation and revive the world economy. At the time when the prevention and control of COVID-19 have become a regular practice, China is willing to work with Germany to expand the “express channel” for personnel exchanges, and strengthen cooperation in vaccine and medicine development, in a bid to take care of the health of the two peoples and make contributions to global public health security.
Wang said that China and Germany should advocate for global solidarity, support the World Health Organization (WHO) and oppose wrong acts and words stigmatizing global anti-epidemic cooperation.
The two sides should also implement the consensus reached at the G20 summit to help Africa and other less-developed regions, in a bid to give more momentum to the world economy, Wang added.
The second task is to advance China-European Union (EU) relations to a higher level, Wang said, adding that developing strategic partnerships with Germany and Europe is China’s strategic choice rather than an expedient measure, without any influence from a third party.
As partners rather than rivals, China and the EU should accommodate and learn from each other, so as to help stabilize the turbulent world, Wang said.
China is willing to work with Germany and the EU to prepare for the major political agenda for the next stage, deepen exchanges and cooperation in trade and economy, climate change, green development and digitalization, and complete the ongoing China-EU investment agreement negotiations within this year, Wang said.
Wang hoped that Germany will play a constructive role in promoting China-EU mutual trust and cooperation during the current German rotating presidency of the EU Council.
The third task is to advocate for multilateralism and oppose the “new cold war,” Wang said, adding that China is willing to strengthen cooperation with Germany in multilateral organizations such as the United Nations and the World Trade Organization (WTO), so as to safeguard the authority of the UN, advance global governance and build an open world economy.
The two sides should take practical acts to maintain the stable operation of industrial and supply chains, opposing “decoupling,” deglobalization and other acts in an attempt to reverse the course of history, Wang added.
Wang said that China stands ready to work with Germany to strengthen bilateral exchanges in humanities, think tanks, media and research institutions, and hold the second conference of the China-Germany high-level humanities exchange mechanism and the China-Germany cultural exchange year, so as to promote people-to-people understanding between the two countries.
For his part, Maas said that Germany highly values Germany-China relations and EU-China relations, and further developing relations with China is a key target of Germany as the current EU Council rotating president, adding that Germany will work with China to promote the success of the important EU-China political agenda in the next phase.
Germany opposes ‘decoupling’
“Decoupling” is not in the interest of any party, said Maas, adding that China is a major country wielding important influence, so that it is impossible to find lasting solutions without China’s participation in dealing with major international issues such as tackling climate change.
Maas said that Germany hopes to work with China to deepen exchanges and cooperation in the fields of politics, the economy, trade and humanities, fight the COVID-19 pandemic, carry out vaccine cooperation, and ensure vaccine accessibility.
Germany is willing to conduct candid exchanges with China on issues with different views on the basis of mutual respect, Mass added.
The two sides also exchanged in-depth views on international and regional issues of common concern.
On Tuesday, Wang also met with the German Chancellor’s foreign policy adviser Jan Hecker and economic adviser Lars-Hendrik Röller, and exchanged views with them on the important political agenda of China and the EU in the next phase. – Xinhua
– Subheadings by The Macau Post Daily
State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi (right, front) and his German counterpart Haiko Maas (front, left) walk to a press conference in Berlin on Tuesday. – Xinhua
