According to German parliamentarians, China's threats against Taiwan are unacceptable. At the reception of a Bundestag delegation by Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen on Monday in Taipei, the chairman of the group of deputies, Klaus-Peter Willsch, compared the situation with Russia's actions against Ukraine. The Bundestag has made it clear several times "that we do not consider it acceptable that you are being threatened by a neighbor," Willsch told the President.
Taiwan must not be forced into "unwanted cooperation" with military force. The Bundestag is "clear in its rejection," said the CDU politician. The meeting of the six MPs with the President was the high point of the first visit by a Bundestag delegation to Taiwan since the outbreak of the pandemic at the end of 2019. Meetings with Foreign Minister Joseph Wu and Speaker of Parliament You Si-kun are also planned.
The visit causes severe upset in German-Chinese relations. "Taiwan is an inseparable part of Chinese territory," a foreign ministry spokesman in Beijing said. The government of the People's Republic is the only legitimate government in all of China. Lawmakers should adhere to the "one China principle" and "immediately" stop their interactions with "separatist independence forces" in Taiwan.
Willsch: "Complete overreaction"
"We noticed that not everyone likes that we are here," said Willsch. "But we don't care." The Bundestag itself decides on its relations with friendly parliaments. The CDU politician had previously spoken of a "complete overreaction by a nervous dictatorship" that reacted to words with rockets and military aggression. "An exchange of parliamentarians must not be used as a pretext for saber-rattling behavior by the Chinese Communists, nor as an excuse for further violations of Taiwan's sea and air space."
China's leadership sees the democratic island state as part of the People's Republic and firmly rejects such official contacts from other countries to Taipei. Taiwan, on the other hand, has long considered itself independent. Tensions had recently intensified. In response to the visit of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in early August, China launched large-scale maneuvers. The threatened conquest of the island was also practiced. The People's Liberation Army has kept up the pressure with increased deployments of warships and aircraft near Taiwan.
Critical moment Militärmanövern
Taiwan's president accused China of "disturbing the regional order" with the military maneuvers. Tsai Ing-wen thanked Germany for its support during the presidency of the Group of the Seven Large Industrial Countries (G7). In the face of the "expansion of autocratism," democracies must unite to defend their democratic values. Taiwan wants to expand cooperation with Germany in order to jointly realize values such as justice, peace and ecological sustainability.
The CDU politician Willsch emphasized that Taiwan's people can be proud of what they have built: "A functioning democracy, a beacon of freedom in Asia." Taiwan is living proof that "the Chinese also live in democracy and can shape it well." Added to this is the economic success: Taiwan is Germany's fifth largest trading partner in Asia. "The whole world is screaming for digitization, but how are we supposed to achieve that without the semiconductors that are produced in Taiwan," said Willsch.
After a visit by French parliamentarians in early September, the "Berlin-Taipei Circle of Friends" is the second parliamentary delegation from a major EU member to visit Taiwan. The Human Rights Committee of the Bundestag is also planning a visit at the end of October.
Youtube video of meeting
