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German Conservatives Criticize Clinton for Cozying up to China

German conservatives are angered by statements from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton placing what appear to be limits for Washington's support of Tibet, Taiwan and human rights in its ties with Beijing.

Prominent politicians in the conservative camp of German Chancellor Angela Merkel are upset by statements made by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during her trip to China last week. During her Asia sojourn, Clinton said efforts to press China on issues like Taiwan, Tibet and human rights "can't interfere with the global economic crisis, the global climate change crisis and the security crisis."

Instead Clinton, who visited China from Feb. 20-22, sought out fresh Chinese loans for the deeply-indebted American government. "This is very questionable," said Günter Nooke of Merkel's Christian Democratic Union party. "We should dampen our enthusiasm for the new American foreign policy."

Meanwhile, the CDU's point man on foreign policy issues in parliament, Eckart von Klaeden, said Clinton's statements showed that Washington, after years of "living beyond its means has a reduced room for maneuver in foreign policy."

Germany's conservatives tend to be guarded in their public criticism of Washington. The fact of the matter, though, is that Clinton's view of China as a partner puts Germany's conservatives in a difficult situation. Up until now, the CDU has often viewed China more as a competitor than a potential partner. And under Merkel, a more confrontational approach to Beijing has been permitted. In 2007, Merkel met the Dalai Lama, thus angering not only Beijing but also her deputy chancellor, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier of the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), who had favored friendlier ties with China.

Within the SPD, criticism of Clinton's visit has been muted. The SPD's foreign policy expert, Niels Annen, praised her for correcting what he said had been a more aggressive US government stance towards China. "Still," he added, "she has overshot the target." Meanwhile, Jürgen Trittin, the deputy floor leader of the opposition Green Party, spoke of a "regrettable misjudgment."

"The question for Clinton should not be whether she addresses these problems, but how she does it," he said.

dsl/spiegel