Germany’s Merkel rejects criticism of her Wirecard lobbying in China – Reuters

Germany’s Merkel rejects criticism of her Wirecard lobbying in China – Reuters

German chancellor Angela Merkel rejected criticism of her lobbying for Wirecard in China months before it collapsed, telling lawmakers she had no reason to suspect the firm of criminality as she sought to help it do business there.Her detailed account of events leading to a state visit to China in September 2019 shone a rare light on the inner workings of government and its lobbying for business, marking the climax of a public inquiry into the country's biggest post-war fraud.Wirecard, which began by processing payments for gambling and pornography, had been hailed as a rare German technology success story, although few really understood it. Once valued at $28 billion, it abruptly unravelled last year.In her testimony, Merkel outlined how Wirecard's aim of buying a Chinese company fitted in with her agenda of helping German companies on the trip, lobbying she described as a normal part of her job."What is known since Summer 2020 ... about Wirecard was not known in 2018/2019," said Merkel, adding: "There was no reason to think that there were serious irregularities, in spite of press reports."Merkel gave a vague account of her meeting, shortly before her journey to China, with Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, a former German