Gabriel criticizes lack of freedom in China
July 15, 2015
"The individual needs free space," Sigmar Gabriel said during his two-day vist to China on Wednesday. The Social Democrat (SPD) chief's comments came as he visited the Beijing outpost of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation on his two-day trip to China where is trying to boost cooperation in business and technology.
The visit was to culminate later on Wednesday in talks with President Xi Jinping.
Gabriel was concerned with a sweeping new security law passed by China's legislature at the beginning of July. The bill reinforces the government's control over finance, cyber security, food safety, religion, and the environment - among other things. The law, meant to help Beijing combat "bad cultural influences" and "malignant groups," has been criticized by rights groups like Amnesty International as "draconian."
Instead of placing more restrictions on the individual, Gabriel suggested that "China should pave the way for reform and openness."
It's not only rights organizations that are concerned. German companies are worried that the new restrictions might jeopardize their business interests in China.
"You country has benefited like no other from open markets," said Gabriel, calling on the government to relax its statutes so that countries like Germany could continue their trade unhindered. He also asked both Beijing and Chinese business to consider investing more heavily in Germany, saying that Germany was currently spending markedly more in China than vice-versa.
Chinese-German business relations take center stage
In an effort to promote German business interests, Gabriel on Tuesday signed an agreement with China's minister for industry and information technology, Miao Wei, to work together to create more "intelligent manufacturing" or "Industry 4.0," as the future of industrialization is being called.
Before flying home to Berlin on Wednesday evening, Gabriel was set to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping.
After his China visit, speculation was mounting that Gabriel's next foreign trip would be to Tehran - possibly by the end of the week - in response to yesterday's landmark nuclear nonproliferation deal between Iran, the permanent members of the UN Security Council, and Germany.
es/msh (Reuters, dpa)