Voice of America/Associated Press (for whatever difference there is)
March 5, 2023

Germany’s Scholz Warns of ‘Consequences’ if China Sends Arms to Russia

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says there would be “consequences” if China sent weapons to Russia for Moscow’s war in Ukraine….

Scholz’s comments came in an interview with CNN that aired Sunday, two days after he met U.S. President Joe Biden in Washington.

…Ahead of his trip, Scholz had urged Beijing to refrain from sending weapons and instead use its influence to press Russia to withdraw its troops from Ukraine.

Asked by CNN if he could imagine sanctioning China if it did aid Russia, Scholz replied, “I think it would have consequences, but we are now in a stage where we are making clear that this should not happen, and I’m relatively optimistic that we will be successful with our request in this case, but we will have to look at (it) and we have to be very, very cautious.”

…Germany has Europe’s biggest economy, and China has been its single biggest trading partner in recent years.

Back in Germany, Scholz was asked Sunday, after his Cabinet met with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen whether he had received concrete evidence from the U.S. that China was considering weapons deliveries and whether he would back sanctions against Beijing if it helped arm Russia.

“We all agree that there must be no weapons deliveries, and the Chinese government has stated that it wouldn’t deliver any,” the chancellor replied. “That is what we are demanding and we are watching it.”