German Chancellor Angela Merkel hit back at her Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Wednesday in a row over China policy that has highlighted rising tensions in the left-right coalition.
On the day Steinmeier, a Social Democrat, took over as Vice-Chancellor, Merkel defended her decision to meet the Dalai Lama two months ago and criticised her foreign minister for second-guessing her on the issue.
Merkel was the first German chancellor to meet Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, a move which angered China and prompted Beijing to cancel several high-level meetings.
”As Chancellor, I decide whom I meet and where I meet them. I wish everyone in the government would keep to this position because otherwise China’s respect for us will not increase,” she told the Wednesday edition of top-selling German daily Bild.
The comment was a clear jibe at Steinmeier who has accused her in recent weeks of putting public relations ahead of diplomatic ties by focusing on human rights in her dealings with Russia and China.
The row shows how differences in Merkel’s ”grand coalition” are spreading from domestic to foreign policy issues as her SPD partners adopt a more confrontational tone ahead of key state elections next year and a new federal vote in 2009.
The atmosphere between the two parties, which were forced into a partnership after Merkel’s narrow 2005 election victory, has deteriorated in the last few weeks, with the SPD shifting to the left to woo voters back from the surging new Left party.
A new poll for Stern magazine and RTL television showed support for the SPD had slipped to a year-low of 24% compared with a year-high of 40% for Merkel’s conservatives.
Low poll ratings
Last week’s decision by SPD Vice-Chancellor Franz Muentefering to resign to care for his sick wife have raised fears that the coalition will descend into bickering and achieve little in its remaining two years in office.
Muentefering (67) was seen as a stabilising force who bridged gaps between the parties. His successor Steinmeier (51) worked well with Merkel during Germany’s presidencies of the EU and G8 this year, but now seems intent on distancing himself from her with an eye on his party’s low poll ratings.
Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, an ally of Merkel, slammed Steinmeier on Wednesday for his criticism of the chancellor’s Dalai Lama meeting.
”It is absurd. Every other German foreign minister has hosted the Dalai Lama — only Mr Steinmeier hasn’t,” Schaeuble told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
Some commentators have speculated that the government could collapse before its term is up, but Merkel rejected that possibility in the Bild interview.
”Early elections are not a subject we are thinking about,” Merkel said, adding she wanted to use the next two years to introduce practical reforms despite disagreements on policies like the introduction of a minimum wage in the postal sector and the privatisation of rail operator Deutsche Bahn. – Reuters