A few hours earlier, German Economy Minister Katherina Reiche announced that Berlin was lodging a diplomatic protest against China for blocking semiconductor shipments. “We have been hit hard by the chip shortage because the German economy depends on these chips,” she said in Kyiv.
In August, Wadephul also noted that China was providing “crucial” support to Russia that enabled President Vladimir Putin’s ongoing war against Ukraine.
The foreign minister was originally scheduled to depart for China on Sunday. Wadephul had planned to press Beijing to ease export restrictions on rare earths and semiconductors, he told Reuters on Thursday — and discuss pushing Russia toward negotiations to end its war in Ukraine.
Brussels, for its part, is pressing ahead in talks with Beijing.
The European Commission on Friday told reporters that it “can confirm that both in-person and virtual high-level technical meetings will take place next week” after the bloc’s Commissioner for Trade Maroš Šefčovič spoke to his Chinese counterpart Wang Wentao on Tuesday.