GERMANY-FM Qin: China & Germany Partners, Not Rivals

(MNI) London - Comments from Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang hititng wires. Comes after a testy joint presser between he and his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock earlier today (see: https://marketnews.com/germany-foreign-ministers-s...) Qin: 'China and Germany are partners, not rivals [...] China and Germany needs cooperation, not confrontation.'

• Qin: 'When formulating China-related strategic documents, Germany should proceed while considering interest of two countries, make correct political choices. [...] As long as both sides remain open, there is no need to worry about so-called 'dependence'.'
• In contrast to French President Emmanuel Macron's recent efforts to distance France and the EU from the heightened US-China tensions over Taiwan, Baerbock earlier today warned against escalation of cross-strait tensions, stating that "A military escalation in the Taiwan Strait, through which 50 percent of world trade flows every day, would be a horror scenario for the entire world. The shock wave of such a world economic crisis would also hit China and Germany as special trading nations. [...] A unilateral and violent change in the status quo would not be acceptable to us as Europeans,"