STUTTGART (dpa-AFX) – FDP federal leader Christian Lindner has warned against naivety in dealing with China. “We have to address our sovereignty, human rights and international law to Beijing and the Communist Party at every opportunity – even when the cameras are off,” said Lindner on Friday in Stuttgart at the traditional Epiphany meeting of the FDP. But: “Simply decoupling Germany from the Chinese market would not be in the interest of this export nation.”
As part of a China strategy, other markets and dynamically growing world regions should gradually become more important for Germany, according to Lindner, who also holds the office of Finance Minister. “What we actually need as an export nation is a foreign trade strategy that takes all regions of the world, all dependencies and all bilateral relationships into account. The China strategy that we are developing can only be the nucleus for everything that comes after that, so that this export nation remains successful in the long term./jpg/DP/ngu