China criticizes German call for reducing dependency on Chinese products as 'protectionism'

BEIJING (AP) — China on Friday criticized a German government call for reducing dependency on Chinese products and decreasing other potentially unstable factors in bilateral relations, calling it a form of protectionism.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said that a long-awaited German government strategy for relations with China that pointed to a “systemic rivalry” went “against the trend of the times, and will only aggravate divisions in the world.”

Wang said the two countries were “partners rather than rivals,” a typical ruling Chinese Communist Party formulation for dismissing criticism.

“We believe that to engage in competition and protectionism in the name of de-risking and reducing dependency, and to overstretch the concept of security and politicize normal cooperation will only be counterproductive and create artificial risks,” Wang told reporters at a daily briefing.