German envoy snubbed in China after FM Annalena Baerbock's ‘dictator’ remarks against Xi

China snubbed a German climate envoy this week in what is speculated to be a subtle retaliatory move over German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock's "dictator" remark against Chinese President Xi Jinping. Jennifer Morgan, German special envoy for international climate action, recently embarked on a three-day visit to Beijing.

In Chinese capital, Morgan was able to secure only one meeting with a government official, namely with Chinese climate envoy Xie Zhenhua. While she hoped to meet or top officials from Chinese government, she was told that ir schedules were filled and meetings could not be held, South China Morning Post reported. 

comment that started it all 

 conspicuous cold shoulder comes days after Baerbock commented on ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. During a conversation with Fox News on September 14, German foreign minister said that if Russian President Vlimir Putin achieved victory in conflict, it would send wrong message to leers with similar ideologies and embolden m. 

“If Putin were to win this war, what sign would that be for or dictators in world, like Xi, like Chinese president?,” she said, triggering Chinese backlash. As a result, German ambassor Patricia Flor was summoned to foreign ministry as spokeswoman Mao Ning slammed Baerbock's remarks as “extremely absurd, seriously infringing on China’s political dignity and an open political provocation”.

Morgan is said to be close to Baerbock after latter offered her to give up her role as he of global campaigning network Greenpeace to le Berlin's climate affairs. This prompted Morgan, an American, to seek German citizenship last year. Taking to  WeChat platform, climate envoy shared glimpses of her recent visit to Beijing, which came after she attended  UN General Assembly in New York. 

In a clip, she said that she h “three excellent days here in Beijing, in discussions with Chinese and or international partners about how we are all working to have economic security, energy security, and climate security, and achieving that toger”.