Worries over Germany's China dependency overshadow Scholz trip - Reuters.com

BERLIN, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Chancellor Olaf Scholz makes an inaugural sojourn to China connected Friday that volition beryllium intimately watched for clues connected however superior Germany is astir reducing its economical reliance connected Asia's rising superpower and confronting its Communist leadership.

His one-day sojourn connected Nov. 4, volition marque Scholz the archetypal G7 person to sojourn China since the commencement of the COVID-19 pandemic and the archetypal to conscionable Chinese President Xi Jinping since helium consolidated his grip connected power astatine a Communist Party Congress.

Deep commercialized ties hindrance Asia and Europe's biggest economies, with accelerated Chinese enlargement and request for Germany's cars and machinery fueling its ain maturation implicit the past 2 decades. China became Germany's azygous biggest commercialized spouse successful 2016.

A caller survey by the Ifo think-tank recovered that astir fractional of German concern firms present trust connected important inputs from China.

But Scholz's travel comes astatine a clip of increasing interest successful the West - peculiarly successful Germany's apical information ally, the United States - astir China's commercialized practices, quality rights grounds and territorial ambitions.

It besides comes amid interest astatine location astir Germany's dependence connected different progressively assertive, authoritarian authorities fixed the ongoing fallout of its over-reliance connected Russian energy.

"It is highly important that we ne'er again marque ourselves truthful babelike connected a state that does not stock our values," Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told broadcaster ARD erstwhile asked astir China.

Scholz, who volition conscionable with some Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Xi, will property China to unfastened up its markets, rise quality rights concerns and sermon "autocratic" tendencies, a German authorities spokesperson said past week.

He besides hopes China tin assistance transportation Russia to extremity the warfare successful Ukraine, a authorities authoritative said connected Wednesday.

"This travel is an exploratory travel to find retired successful idiosyncratic speech wherever China stands, wherever China is going and what forms of practice are possible," the authoritative said.

Germany had already started to instrumentality a somewhat much hawkish stance connected China nether erstwhile Chancellor Angela Merkel, for illustration by sending a warship to the disputed South China Sea for the archetypal clip successful 2 decades past year.

Now Scholz's authorities is drafting its archetypal ever China strategy, connected the ground of a conjugation woody that struck a tougher stance connected Beijing, mentioning delicate issues specified arsenic Taiwan and Hong Kong and quality rights violations successful Xianjiang.

The chancellor made his inaugural Asia sojourn to Japan, not China, dissimilar his predecessor successful a motion of the changing times.

MERCANTILE APPROACH?

Yet immoderate conjugation members, European officials and rights activists interest determination are aboriginal signs Scholz, who has warned against decoupling, volition not people a decisive interruption with what they presumption arsenic Merkel's mercantilist attack towards China.

Scholz volition beryllium accompanied by a delegation of concern leaders including the main executives of Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) , BASF (BASFn.DE), Siemens (SIEGn.DE), Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE), BMW (BMWG.DE), Merck (MRCG.DE) and BioNTech , according to sources acquainted with the matter.

No institution deals were planned, a German authorities authoritative said.

However, "his determination to bring a concern delegation shows that, for Germany, nett continues to trump quality rights," Dolkun Isa, president of the Munich-based radical the World Uyghhur Congress, said connected Wednesday, arguing that Scholz was overlooking a genocide taking spot successful the Xinjiang region.

Beijing denies immoderate abuses there.

Last week the German chancellor besides pushed done a furniture determination to let China's Cosco to invest successful a terminal astatine Hamburg larboard contempt pushback from his conjugation partners.

Scholz's inferior conjugation partners, the Greens and (FDP) Free Democrats, person agelong been much hawkish connected China than his Social Democrats (SPD) and the Cosco determination prompted outcry.

FDP General Secretary Bijan Djir-Sarai called the determination "naive" and criticized the timing of Scholz's travel to China arsenic "deeply unfortunate".

Moreover French and German authorities sources told Reuters French President Emmanuel Macron had suggested to Scholz they spell unneurotic to Beijing to nonstop a awesome of EU unity to Beijing and antagonistic what they spot arsenic Chinese attempts to play 1 state implicit another.

But the German chancellor declined Macron's offer, the sources said.

EU countries should follow a much agreed approach, the European Union's manufacture main told Reuters connected Monday.

Reporting by Sarah Marsh and Andreas Rinke; Additional Reporting by Paul Carrel; Editing by Alexandra Hudson

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