A forthcoming trip by German Foreign Minister, Johann Wadephul, to China has been cancelled amid growing fears that Beijing’s restriction on semiconductor and rare earth exports could paralyse the country’s car industry.
According to Foreign ministry Spokeswoman, Kathrin Deschauer, Wadephul decided not to travel and to seek alternative dates for the two-day visit because China was only able to confirm one official meeting, with his counterpart Wang Yi.
Foreign ministry Spokeswoman told a regular press briefing, “We are postponing the journey to a later time,” adding, “There are a number of issues that we would like to discuss with the Chinese side, especially at this time.”
While she did not specify which side canceled the trip, the spokeswoman said that Germany regretted the development.
The German Foreign Minister would have been the first to visit China since a new conservative-led government took the helm in Berlin in May. He was originally due to depart on Sunday and hold meetings on Monday and Tuesday.
The incident is another blow to German-Chinese relations which have cooled off in the few months since conservative Chancellor Friedrich Merz took office in May, promising to take a tougher line with Beijing.
Merz himself had planned to travel to China for his first meeting with President Xi Jinping, but that trip, too, failed to materialize due to scheduling conflicts and will most likely not happen this year.
Wadephul, who is a close ally of Merz, had planned to address Chinese curbs on rare earth exports during his visit and had planned to also meet a leading official from the Chinese Communist Party.
China’s new export controls on rare-earth tech have also disrupted EU industries, forcing some firms to halt production.
Tensions rose after the Netherlands moved to take over Chinese-owned chipmaker Nexperia, prompting Beijing to ban some exports and sparking fears of chip shortages in Europe.
It is not clear if the meeting was cancelled because senior officials from the European Commission have a meeting with counterparts from China next week.
A team of senior EU officials will meet Chinese counterparts next week for urgent talks aimed at disentangling Europe from the ongoing trade war between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping.
They are battling to persuade Beijing to ease the restrictions they have imposed on both exports of rare earths and semiconductors critical to car production. Sources say that the meetings will take place on line and in person.
They follow a meeting of more than two hours this week between trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič and Commerce Minister Wang Wentao earlier this week.
The car industry warned on Thursday that China’s ban on exports of semiconductors made by Chinese owned Nexperia could halt production.
The ban, which was taken in the wake of the Dutch government’s decision to take over Nexperia in Nijmegan, comes on top of recent restrictions Beijing imposed on rare earth exports.
China has a stranglehold on global supplies of rare earths, and supplies could mean new cars cannot be finished if elements including magnets needed for window and boot openings and closings are choked off.
Yesterday the German car industry confirmed it had urgent talks with the economy ministry over the potential disruption to the car industry, the backbone of German manufacturing.
China Criticises Germany’s Position On Taiwan
Earlier today, a Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman criticized Germany’s position on Taiwan.
According to the Spokesman, calling for the status quo to be preserved without explicitly rejecting the island’s independence amounts to supporting “Taiwan independence activities.”
Wadephul has repeatedly voiced criticism of China’s efforts to unilaterally alter the status quo in the region, describing Beijing’s Indo-Pacific policy as increasingly aggressive.
However, it remains unclear whether China’s decision to confirm only one meeting was directly linked to Germany’s stance.
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