(Reuters): After the German foreign minister refers to Xi as a “dictator,” China complains to Germany.
According to the Chinese foreign ministry, China has complained to Germany after that country’s foreign minister referred to President Xi Jinping as a “dictator,” calling the term “absurd” and a “open political provocation.”
When questioned about Russia’s attack on Ukraine during a live interview with Fox News last week, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock made the comments.
What message would a victory by Putin send to other foreign leaders in power, such as Xi and the Chinese president? She spoke.
A representative for the Chinese foreign ministry, Mao Ning, called Baerbock’s comments “extremely absurd” and an insult to China’s political honor.
At a routine press conference, Mao stated, “They are an open political provocation,” adding that China had complained to Germany.
Baerbock is a vocal opponent of China.
She stated that China was a threat to the “fundamentals of how we live together in this world” in August. She had previously claimed that visiting China had been “more than shocking” in some ways and that Beijing was increasingly more of a structural rival than a trading partner.
A day after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s mission to China to try to normalize relations ended, U.S. President Joe Biden also referred to Xi as a “dictator” in June.
