Press play to listen to this articleVoiced by Amazon PollyTAIPEI — Chinese leader Xi Jinping made his most direct criticism yet of Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine on Friday, warning the Russian president not to resort to nuclear weapons and calling on visiting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to push for peace talks.The Chinese leader, who just weeks ago secured a norm-breaking third term in office, asked Germany and Europe to “play an important part in calling for peace and facilitating negotiations.”You may likeXi also called for “improving the humanitarian situation” in the crisis areas especially during the winter.Referring to Scholz who was standing next to him, Li said: “Both of us … hope the crisis ends soon.”Scholz wants businessXi’s show of opposition to Putin’s nuclear threats was hailed as a major diplomatic victory by Scholz, who has faced weeks of criticism for leaning too closely toward Beijing.“We have agreed that threatening nuclear attacks is irresponsible and dangerous,” Scholz told reporters, referring to his meeting with Xi.Scholz named few deliverables, apart from a deal for expatriates — not local Chinese people — to take BioNTech coronavirus vaccine shots in China, and vowed cooperation on climate change and disease prevention."