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German Contender Wants Tougher Stance on China, Russia

Associated Press

   BERLIN - A leading contender to succeed Angela Merkel as German
   chancellor this fall has called for "dialogue and toughness" toward
   China when it comes to defending democratic values and human rights.

   Annalena Baerbock, the environmentalist Greens' candidate for
   chancellorship, told the weekly Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung
   that Europe should use its economic might to block Chinese goods made
   with forced labor and avoid communications technologies that endanger
   European security.

   "We are currently in a competition between systems: authoritarian
   powers versus liberal democracies," she said in an interview published
   Sunday.

   Baerbock cited China's investment in infrastructure and energy grids
   through Central Asia to Europe as "brutal power politics."

   "We Europeans mustn't kid ourselves," she said, adding that the
   27-nation European Union needs to act accordingly to defend its values,
   such as by using a recent investment accord between Brussels and
   Beijing to address more strongly the issue of China putting its Uyghur
   minority into forced labor.

   Baerbock, a graduate in international law, also took aim at Russia, in
   particular its support for rebel groups in Ukraine and the recent
   massing of Russian troops along Ukraine's border.

   She backed Ukraine's right to apply for membership in NATO and the EU
   but said "the most important thing right now is to increase the
   pressure on Russia so that the Minsk accord is adhered to." That accord
   seeks to peacefully end the conflict in eastern Ukraine with
   Russia-backed rebels that has left at least 14,000 dead since 2014.

   Against the backdrop of Moscow's aggressive behavior, Baerbock
   criticized the German government's support for an underwater pipeline
   bringing Russian natural gas to Germany.

   "I would have long withdrawn political support for Nord Stream 2," she
   said.

   The Greens have called for closer cooperation with the United States to
   defend liberal values worldwide, but Baerbock suggested that the goal
   of having NATO members spend 2% of their gross domestic product on
   defense should be revisited in light of the pressing need to invest
   large sums to curb climate change. She also suggested Europe's defense
   contribution could also come in the form of a cybersecurity center.

   "A blanket 2% goal, on the other hand, won't achieve greater security,"
   she said.

   The Greens emerged from the pacifist and environmental movements of the
   1970s and 1980s, but in recent years have backed limited military
   deployments abroad, provided they are tied to U.N. resolutions.

   Baerbock said the future of U.S. nuclear weapons stationed in Europe
   could be raised again as part of the disarmament negotiations between
   Moscow and Washington.

   A poll published Sunday by weekly Bild am Sonntag put the Greens
   narrowly ahead of Merkel's center-right Union bloc.

   Germans will elect a new parliament September 26 that will then choose
   who should become the country's next chancellor. Merkel is not running
   for a fifth term.

   The survey, conducted by polling firm Kantar, found 28% of respondents
   planned to vote for the Greens, against 27% for the Union bloc. The
   center-left Social Democrats are expected to receive about 13% support
   while the far-right Alternative for Germany would get 10%. The poll of
   1,225 voters found the pro-business Free Democrats would receive 9% and
   the Left party would get 7% of the vote.