MUNICH — Germany is firmly on the side of Washington in the resurgent rivalry between the United States and China, Berlin’s top defense official declared Friday, adding that Americans saw the return of “great power competition” before Europeans did.

“We are not neutral,” German defense minister Ursula von der Leyen told the Munich Security Conference, an annual gathering that this year will see more than 35 heads of state and government and 80 defense and foreign ministers in attendance. “We side with freedom, we side with human dignity, we side with democracy and the rule of law.”