German climate envoy given cold shoulder on trip to Beijing after 'dictator' remarks
South China Morning Post
4 min read
A German climate envoy was given the cold shoulder during a trip to Beijing this week, in what sources believe was retaliation for Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock calling Chinese President Xi Jinping a dictator.
Jennifer Morgan, the German special envoy for international climate action, was granted just one meeting with a government official, China's top climate envoy Xie Zhenhua, during a three-day visit to the capital.
Xie Zhenhua, China's special envoy for climate change, at the COP27 international climate conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on November 8, 2022. Photo: Bloomberg alt=Xie Zhenhua, China's special envoy for climate change, at the COP27 international climate conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on November 8, 2022. Photo: Bloomberg>
But Morgan's requests to meet officials from Chinese ministries went unfulfilled, according to people familiar with the trip. She was told that senior officials were too busy to meet her, in what is regarded as a signal of displeasure over Baerbock's comments earlier this month.
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"If Putin were to win this war, what sign would that be for other dictators in the world, like Xi, like the Chinese president?," Baerbock said in a Fox News interview on September 14, comments that sparked a furious reaction from Beijing.
The German ambassador Patricia Flor was called to the foreign ministry for a dressing down, while ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning described the remarks as "extremely absurd, seriously infringing on China's political dignity and an open political provocation".
It is not believed that Beijing has any issue with Morgan or the German climate agenda. But she is seen as close to Baerbock, who plucked her from her role as head of Greenpeace to lead Germany's climate policy last year, a move that required Morgan, an American, to take on German citizenship.
In a video on the German government's WeChat channel, Morgan said she had "three excellent days here in Beijing, in discussions with the Chinese and other international partners about how we are all working to have economic security, energy security, and climate security, and achieving that together".
Morgan arrived in China on Sunday, after participating in the UN General Assembly in New York, and left Beijing on Wednesday evening. As well as meeting Xie, she attended the Friends of the Paris Agreement High Level Dialogue at Tsinghua University and met with Chinese climate change experts and NGOs.
Zhao Yingmin, vice-minister of ecology and environment, and He Jiankun, director of China's national climate change committee, were also present at the Tsinghua dialogue.
On previous occasions, Morgan has enjoyed freer access to Chinese officials.
In April, she took part in a video call with Zhao and Xu Huaqing, the director of the National Centre for Climate Change Strategy. During the same month, she visited China, calling on the State Grid, a Chinese state-owned electric utility corporation, and delivering a speech at Peking University.
Morgan also met Xie at the COP27 summit in Egypt in November 2022, along with Su Wei, then deputy secretary general of the National Development and Reform Commission, China's state planner.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock's remarks about Xi Jinping this month drew fire from China's foreign ministry. Photo: EPA-EFE alt=German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock's remarks about Xi Jinping this month drew fire from China's foreign ministry. Photo: EPA-EFE>
The snub comes at a pivotal moment for German-Chinese relations.
As it looks to redress what it sees as a non-reciprocal economic relationship with Beijing, Berlin wants to remove Huawei Technologies from parts of its cellular network, according to German media.
Multiple Germany ministries are also concerned about the potential sale of Volkswagen's gas turbine business, MAN ES, to a Chinese buyer with links to the defence industry, Handelsblatt reported.
The anxieties come as government departments work out how to institute a new China strategy, published in July.
These issues will provide ample topics for debate during financial talks that are to resume in Berlin on Sunday, with Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng and German Finance Minister Christian Lindner chairing them, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Thursday.
In May, Lindner, a China hawk, was disinvited at late notice before a trip to Beijing.
In London on Wednesday, Germany's Asia Pacific chief Petra Sigmund called it essential to keep talking to China, despite the mounting problems.
"We're not weaponising dialogue. We don't think that would be wise because it is important to be in a constant conversation with them," Sigmund said.
"It's important to them also, they want to sit down with us. They want to have those dialogues for now with us," she said, adding that because of the new China strategy, the nature of the dialogue was changing.
