Germany and China held their first joint Cabinet meeting yesterday and inked billions in new business contracts, as Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶) warned Europe against interfering in its internal affairs.
Wen arrived in Berlin late on Monday from London, where he and British Prime Minister David Cameron signed trade deals worth 1.6 billion euros (US$2.3 billion), while the Chinese premier brushed aside questions over Beijing’s rights record.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Wen and a total of 23 ministers signed 22 state cooperation pacts and deals worth “several billion euros,” the German leader said.
Photo: Reuters
While Berlin has rolled out the red carpet, starting with an informal dinner for Wen and his inner circle hosted by Merkel at a lakeside villa on Monday, it insists it will not soft-pedal human rights concerns for the sake of commerce.
“We have different opinions on certain issues, but I am confident we can discuss them,” Merkel said at the dinner.
However, Wen said yesterday he would not accept lectures from European partners.
“China respects the political system and the development model chosen by the citizens of the EU,” he told a meeting of German and Chinese business leaders at a Berlin hotel. “In exchange, we expect from the EU respect of our sovereignty, our territorial integrity and the autonomous choices of the Chinese people.”
Germany welcomed the release of prominent Chinese dissident Hu Jia (胡佳) on Sunday just days after outspoken artist Ai Weiwei (艾未未) returned home following nearly three months in police custody, amid a government crackdown on dissent.
Western nations, including Germany, had repeatedly urged Ai’s immediate release, but Berlin has expressed serious concerns about apparent restrictions on Hu and Ai including their freedom to speak to the media.
Human Rights Watch urged Berlin to place the issue front-and-center at the talks, saying that Ai’s release showed “that political pressure on the Chinese government works.”
Activists pledged to hit the streets during Wen’s two-day stay.
A group called Tibet Initiative Deutschland said that while Merkel welcomes Wen to her chancellery with military honors, it would release 300 black balloons to call attention to the reported detention of 300 Buddhist monks from the Kirti monastery in Sichuan Province.
Meanwhile, earlier in London, Wen issued a diplomatic dressing down of the British government on Monday by saying the UK should stop “finger pointing” over human rights in discussions with Beijing.
Wen also suggested the UK economy needed to do better.
The rebukes marred the signing of trade deals between China and the UK, the most important being an agreement between BG, the UK energy group, and Bank of China for up to US$1.5 billion of funding to expand projects in China.
At a Downing Street press conference, Wen repeatedly aired his frustration at the way the UK government and media seemed to obsess about human rights.
“On human rights, China and the UK should respect each other, respect the facts, treat each other as equals, engage in more co-operation than finger-pointing and resolve our differences through dialogue. China is not only pursuing economic development, but also political structural reform and improvement in democracy and the rule of law,” he said.
He said China had been exposed to untold sufferings in its 5,000 year history.
“This has taught the Chinese never to talk to others in a lecturing way, but to respect nations on the basis of equality,” Wen said.
Chinese officials, involved in a month-long crackdown on civil rights activists, expressed irritation and said Britain was viewed less favorably in Beijing than Germany, France, Italy and Spain. There is anger that Cameron may have gone further than other European leaders when in China in raising human rights concerns.
In a speech to the Royal Society, Wen said corruption and income disparities were harming people’s lives in China.
“Without freedom there is no real democracy and without the guarantee of economic and political rights there is no real freedom,” he said. “To be frank, corruption, unfair income distribution and other ills that harm the people’s interests still exist in China.”
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