High-level meetings planned
Bundestag delegation lands in Taiwan
02.10.2022, 03:40 am
The Chinese government is unlikely to be pleased with the delegation of another Western country to Taiwan: six members of the Bundestag want to hold talks on the island republic about the political and economic situation.
Despite opposition from Beijing, a delegation of members of the German Bundestag has arrived in Taiwan for a five-day visit. The group of six MPs, led by the CDU politician Klaus-Peter Willsch, wants to get an idea of the tense security situation and the economic and political development in the democratic island republic.
The parliamentarians will receive a high-ranking welcome: meetings with President Tsai Ing-wen, Vice-President Lai Ching-te, Foreign Minister Joseph Wu and Parliament leader You Si-kun are planned. The visit could lead to new irritations with Beijing, since China’s leadership sees the island only as part of the People’s Republic and rejects such official contacts from other countries to Taipei.
Tensions around Taiwan have recently escalated. Angered by the visit of the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, Beijing had launched large-scale maneuvers. A sea and air blockade and a conquest of the island were also practiced. America’s No. 3 was the highest-ranking visitor from Washington in a quarter-century. The US is also providing military support to Taiwan by supplying arms.
Fifth largest trading partner of Germany
Since then, Beijing has been maintaining military pressure on Taiwan with increased deployments of warships and aircraft in the busy straits of the Taiwan Strait. In times like these, it is important to demonstrate friendship with Taiwan, said a member of the delegation, Green Party politician Till Steffen, on Deutsche Welle’s Chinese program.
According to him, the German policy towards Taiwan and China, which has been pursued for many years, has not changed. It would only be different if MPs hesitated to visit Taiwan now. At a time when China is threatening Taiwan, it would send a “negative signal” to Taiwan not to travel, Steffen said. China should “not interfere” in this cooperation.
Taiwan also wants to expand cooperation with Germany. For this purpose, a parliamentary association for friendship with Germany was founded shortly before the visit. Exchanges of goods between the two sides exceeded US$20 billion last year. Taiwan ranks fifth among German trading partners. The country trades with no other EU member as much as with Germany.
Support for international collaboration
According to the German representative in Taipei, Jörg Polster, Germany wants to strengthen cooperation between governments and parliaments in addition to economic exchange. In his words, Germany also supports Taiwan’s participation in international organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
Participation fails, however, due to resistance from Beijing, which is trying to isolate Taipei internationally. With its “One China Doctrine,” China does not allow its diplomatic partners to maintain relations with Taiwan at the same time. Out of consideration for Beijing, Germany only has an unofficial representation in Taipei.
The Berlin-Taipei Circle of Friends is the second parliamentary delegation from a major EU member to visit Taiwan, following a visit by French MPs earlier this month. The Human Rights Committee of the Bundestag is also planning a visit at the end of October.