Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian Photo: fmprc.gov.cn

In response to the recent anti-China rhetoric made by German navy chief Kay-Achim Schonbach that led to his resignation, Chinese Foreign Ministry said that it is noticed he was forced to resign and that he has only himself to blame. 

During his visit to India recently, Schonbach said he is "a very radical Roman Catholic," and said China acts as an enemy to many countries, according to media reports. 

However, Schonbach stepped down after he said that Putin "probably" deserved respect, and that Crimea was "gone" and would "never come back" to Ukraine. He also argued in favor of cooperating with Russia to contain China's rise. 

"Those remarks are typical of a religious extremist," Zhao Lijian, spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, told a routine press conference on Tuesday, noting that Schonbach's words are against the peace and trend of the times. 

Openly provoking to divide the camps and inciting hatred and hostility is not only ridiculous but also extremely dangerous, which the international community should unanimously condemne, Zhao said.

"I noticed that he had been forced to resign, and he had done it himself," he said. 

Some media reports described Schonbach's comments as an unprecedented diplomatic incident, and the German government distanced itself from the comments, according to German media outlet Deutsche Welle.

China and Germany are all-round strategic partners, Zhao said. Since the establishment of the new German government, the leaders of China and Germany closely interacted and agreed that they should continue promoting bilateral relations from a strategic perspective and actively expand practical cooperation between the two countries with a pragmatic attitude, Zhao noted.

"The two sides have agreed to take the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations in 2022 as an opportunity to increase communication and cooperation, expand mutual benefit and win-win results, work together to tackle challenges and make due contributions to global governance," he said. 



Global Times