Germany Tells China to Stop Threatening Europe

Merkel Speaks to Media As German Authorities Confirm Alexei Navalny Was Poisoned With Novichok

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BERLIN, GERMANY - SEPTEMBER 02: German Chancellor Angela Merkel delivers a statement on the Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny case at the Chancellery on September 2, 2020 in Berlin, Germany. The German government said 'the unequivocal proof' that Navalny was poisoned with a nerve agent from the Novichok group was established. Navalny is has been treated at the Charite hospital in Berlin since 22 August 2020. He was first placed in an hospital in Omsk, Russia, after he felt ill on board of a plane on his way from Tomsk to Moscow. The flight was interrupted and after landing in Omsk Navalny was delivered to hospital with a suspicion on a toxic poisoning. Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Germany had called in Russia's ambassador to demand answers on the case.

After Beijing remarked to a Czech Republic politician who visited Taiwan this week that they would pay a hefty price for their support for the self-governing island facing China's subjugation, Germany has remarked to China to stop pressurizing Europe. Basically, Germany is telling China to stop threatening Europe.

Czech Senate President's Taiwan Visit

Czech Senate President Milos Vystrcil inflamed China by becoming one of the few senior politicians from the European Union to visit Taiwan.

Berlin

A tension-filled back-and-forth discussion in Berlin on Tuesday displayed how a deliberate Chinese charm offensive in Europe appears to have retaliated, reported Business Insider.

Five-Country Travel

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's final stop in his five-nation travel through Europe included his confrontation with German counterpart Heiko Maas for saying he would pay the aforementioned heavy price. Maas indicated that he had spoken by phone with his Czech counterpart and underscored that Europe would not back down, reported Financial Review.

Rome

In Rome, China's top diplomat was interrogated regarding autonomy and freedom in Hong Kong. He was questioned regarding Beijing's treatment of the Muslim-minority Uighurs in Paris.

Retaliation Against China's Threats

Germany has reprimanded China for pressurizing Europe after the high-ranking Czech politician's visit to Taiwan displeased Beijing.

Amid a joint appearance that underscored Berlin's stable hardening policy directed at China, German foreign minister Maas also prompted his Chinese counterpart to backpedal the oppressive Hong Kong national security law, reported The Times.

Vystrcil remarked to its parliamentarians "I am a Taiwanese" in what was understood as a reference to John F. Kennedy's anti-communist 1963 Ich bin ein Berliner speech.

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President Xi Jinping would like China to reunify with the self-governing and Southeast Asian country Taiwan which was a remnant of non-Communist China.

"We as Europeans act in close cooperation -- we offer our international partners respect, and we expect the exact same from them. Threats don't fit in here," according to Maas in an attempt to tell China to stop threatening Europe at a 50-minute press briefing in Berlin along with Wang.

Wang was adamant in his stance, indicating that Vystrcil's visit was an intercession in Chinese internal affairs and a contravening to which Beijing's government had to respond.

The Chinese diplomat was chastized by the German foreign minister in Berlin for the intimating remarks directed at European officials.

Wang Yi headed home on Tuesday after a five-stop European tour that had been designated to patch fences with governments in Europe -- or at least execute a charm offensive following Secretary of State Mike Pompeo calling for a Cold War-style alliance of Western democracies against China.

The touring of the five European capitals was an attempt to augment his nation's influence before President Xi discusses with Merkel and other European Union leaders in mid-September.

According to Beijing, it is armed to retake the island by force if critical.

Vystrcil stated during his visit to Taiwan this week, "I am convinced that it is the duty and obligation of every democrat to support all who defend democratic principles and who often find themselves building democracy under difficult conditions."

Maas stood up for Vystrcil, as Europeans stood together "shoulder to shoulder," to tell China to stop threatening Europe.