China hopes for continued good cooperation with Germany under the country’s incoming centre-left coalition government, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.
“We hope that the new government in Germany will continue the pragmatic approach to China.”
He said Germany and China should work to expand bilateral relations on the basis of mutual respect and equality and focus on practical cooperation instead of the opposite.
He, however, warned that issues such as conflicts in Taiwan, the South China Sea, Hong Kong and in the Xinjiang province concerns China’s “internal affairs.”
According to him, respecting China’s core interests is the basis for bilateral relations.
Olaf Scholz from the Social Democrats (SPD), who is expected to become Germany’s next chancellor, presented the coalition deal between his party and their Green and Free Democrat (FDP) partners on Wednesday.
The coalition agreement speaks of a “systemic rivalry” with China and “fair rules in the increasing competition” with the country.
Two months after Germany’s election, the deal lays the foundations for the first-ever federal-level coalition between the three parties.
