So now the time has come: From this Sunday to next Wednesday, Germany's Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul is traveling to China. There is a lot to discuss with the Chinese government.
Wadephul, a member of Chancellor Friedrich Merz's center-right CDU, had originally planned his first trip to China for October 26, but he canceled at short notice on October 24. According to political insiders in Berlin, Wadephul had been unable to arrange talks with enough high-profile partners and therefore did not find the trip worthwhile.
A German foreign minister who almost no one in Beijing wants to talk to? Some observers spoke of a diplomatic scandal, especially since Wadephul's trip was intended, among other things, to prepare for Chancellor Friedrich Merz's inaugural visit to China.
Wadephul's concerns about China's 'aggressive behavior'
In Germany, observers came to the conclusion that Wadephul had promoted a rather frosty relationship between Germany and China and saw a connection with critical statements made by Wadephul in the run-up to the visit. Before his trips to Japan and Indonesia, the foreign minister repeatedly and publicly denounced China's “increasingly aggressive behavior” in the Taiwan Strait and the East and South China Seas.
A spokesman for the Foreign Ministry in Beijing, Mao Ning, immediately warned the CDU politician against continuing to “foment confrontations and stir up tensions.” Shortly thereafter, the Chinese gave Wadephul the cold shoulder, claiming it was impossible to arrange meetings other than the one with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who had previously visited Berlin.
But Vice Chancellor and Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil of the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) has now visited China. He apparently managed to calm the waves. “We are seeking dialogue with China in order to find solutions to pressing problems despite growing international tensions,” said Klingbeil before his trip in mid-November.
At a meeting with government officials in China, Klingbeil managed to insist on reliable access to critical raw materials for German companies without angering his hosts.
Germany, China and trade wars over rare earths
Among many other topics, Germany is particularly concerned with rare earths. The country is largely dependent on China for the supply of rare earths such as lithium. These raw materials are needed for the production of countless products, particularly in the automotive industry, but also for military equipment such as submarines and fighter jets.
China has dominated the global market for rare earths for many years and is now also using its position geopolitically. When China threatened an export ban a few weeks ago in a dispute with the USA over trade issues, German car manufacturers feared a production standstill.
According to Janka Oertel, a political scientist and sinologist in Berlin, the fact that Germany is now feeling the effects of this dependency is a result of years of inaction. Rare earths from China were cheap and available in large quantities, so domestic production was abandoned and companies relied on imports instead.
“We had no particular interest in building mines here because it causes significant environmental damage. And we were actually quite happy that it was happening elsewhere,” Oertel told German public broadcaster Phoenix.
Another sensitive issue is Beijing's role in Russia's war in Ukraine. On the sidelines of the G20 summit in South Africa in November, Merz gave an interview to DW and said: “China can increase the pressure on Russia to end this war. That is the topic of my talks with the Chinese government and may also be the topic of my meeting with the Chinese president next year. But I hope that we can reach a ceasefire by then and that this does not overshadow my talks in Beijing.”
In South Africa, Merz was able to speak with Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang and then announced that he would make his long-awaited inaugural visit to Beijing in January or February 2026.
This article was originally written in German.
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