Merkel stays silent on South China Sea topic

Lianhe Zaobao

14 June 2016

Assoc Prof Li Mingjiang

German Prime Minister Angela Merkel begins her ninth visit to China this week and some observers felt that China has struck two victories thus far. One is Germany’s silence on the South China Sea issue, the other is Germany’s open stance towards China’s economic position. Assoc Prof Li Mingjiang from RSIS said that China has taken the initiative to discuss the South China Sea issue with Germany, and this is a change from her previous policy of trying to prevent the issue from becoming internationalised. China hopes that by actively engaging European countries and explaining China’s stand and historical basis, their views on this issue would not be too similar to US’ view.

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RSIS / Online