Taipei (TIP): The timing of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s imminent trip to China and what signals he will give to Beijing have raised questions at home, a German member of the European Parliament said on November 3.

ReinhardButikofer of the Green Party, which is part of the governing coalition, said in Taiwan that Scholz’s one-day trip is “probably the most controversially debated visit in the country for the last 50 years.” Scholz, who will visit Beijing on Friday, will be the first European leader to visit China since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which Germany has strongly opposed.

Germany has urged its citizens to leave Iran or risk arbitrary arrest and long prison terms warning dual nationals are at risk

Berlin welcomed EU sanctions on Iran, which has unleashed a crackdown on some of the biggest protests in the nation

Beijing has provided Moscow with diplomatic backing, accused the US and NATO of provoking the attack and scathingly criticised punishing economic sanctions imposed on Russia.

Some in the ranks of Scholz’s three-party governing coalition have questioned at least the timing of his visit. His trips to Ukraine and Russia in February also stirred controversy.

Butikofer, part of a group of European lawmakers visiting Taiwan, said, “Just as in other European countries and the EU, the China policy altogether will be in transition for some time. However, Scholz said: “We cannot return to the China policy of yesterday because the realities have changed.” His visit also comes as a Chinese investment in a container terminal at the Hamburg port has raised concerns in Washington and elsewhere that China is gaining a major grip on key infrastructure in an allied nation. Scholz has downplayed the significance of the deal and in a compromise, China’s COSCO was cleared to take a stake in the port below 25 per cent. — AP