BERLIN — German Chancellor
Olaf Scholz on
Saturday defended a controversial trip to China as “worth it” due to an
agreement to oppose the use of nuclear weapons in the war in Ukraine.
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Speaking to a meeting of his Social Democrats a day
after his 12-hour visit to Beijing, Scholz hailed an accord with
Chinese President Xi Jinping that a nuclear escalation of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
must be avoided.
“I think that in light of all the debate about
whether it was the right thing to travel there or not — the fact that the
Chinese government, the president and I could state that there must not be any
nuclear weapons used in this war — for that alone, this trip was worth it,” he
said.
Scholz said after talks with Xi on Friday that he
had insisted “the Russia war in Ukraine is a dangerous situation for the whole
world” and urged Russia’s ally Beijing to use its “influence” on Moscow to
avert an escalation and stop the invasion.
“Xi underscored the need for China and Germany, two
major countries with great influence, to work together in times of change and
instability and contribute more to global peace and development,” Beijing’s
Xinhua News Agency reported on Friday.
The White House said this week that repeated
discussion by Russian officials of the potential use of nuclear weapons in
Ukraine has left Washington worried it could become a reality.
Russia’s foreign ministry responded that the world’s
“top priority” should be to avoid a clash of nuclear powers “in the current
difficult and turbulent situation”.
The German
chancellor was the first G7 leader to visit China since the start of the
coronavirus pandemic, which he undertook accompanied by a large business
delegation.
The trip prompted criticism in Germany and among
European partners over Berlin’s growing economic reliance on Beijing, and
sparked controversy for coming so soon after Xi strengthened his hold on power
in China just last month.
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