BEIJING (Reuters) – China has complained to Germany after its overseas minister labelled President Xi Jinping a “dictator”, the Chinese language overseas ministry mentioned on Monday, calling the title “absurd” and an “open political provocation”.
German Overseas Minister Annalena Baerbock made the remarks in a reside interview with Fox Information final week when requested about Russia’s warfare on Ukraine.
“If Putin have been to win this warfare, what signal would that be for different dictators on this planet, like Xi, just like the Chinese language president?” she mentioned.
Mao Ning, a Chinese language overseas ministry spokesperson, mentioned Baerbock’s remarks have been “extraordinarily absurd” and infringed on China’s political dignity.
“They’re an open political provocation,” Mao instructed a daily press briefing, including that China had complained to Germany.
Baerbock is an outspoken critic of China.
In August, she mentioned China posed a problem to the “fundamentals of how we reside collectively on this world”. Earlier, she described features of a visit to China as “greater than stunning” and mentioned Beijing was more and more changing into extra of a systemic rival than a commerce accomplice.
In June, U.S. President Joe Biden additionally known as Xi a “dictator” a day after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken concluded a go to to China aimed toward stabilising ties.
(Reporting by Liz Lee, Ethan Wang and Bernard Orr; Modifying by Jacqueline Wong and Miral Fahmy)