According to the German magazine Focus, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Saturday (February 14) during the Munich Security Conference that China hopes to elevate the bilateral "comprehensive strategic partnership" to a "new level" while meeting with German Chancellor Merkel.
Wang Yi pointed out that Germany is an "important driving force" in promoting Sino-EU cooperation. "China also expects Germany to be a 'stabilizing anchor' in the strategic relationship," Wang Yi said at the Munich Security Conference. "China and the EU are partners, not institutional rivals or enemies." Wang Yi mentioned decades of economic cooperation. "Why have we become rivals? China remains a reliable and progressive partner."
Merkel will visit China for the first time as chancellor at the end of February.
Comment: In such an environment of confrontation at the Munich Security Conference, Wang Yi's statement serves both to set the tone for Sino-German relations and to stabilize the broader Sino-EU relationship. In the face of increasingly intensified narratives of confrontation, the Chinese side clearly emphasized that Sino-German and Sino-EU relations are partnerships, not rivals. It reiterates the decades-old foundation of practical cooperation, which is both a gesture of goodwill to the new German government and a way to pave the way for Merkel's upcoming visit to China. In the context of a world entering chaos and disorder, the two major economies of China and Germany choosing to maintain dialogue and strengthen cooperation, rather than forming blocs or being swept up by extreme ideologies, is itself the most realistic contribution to global stability.
Original: toutiao.com/article/1857241305808331/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author alone.