Franziska Brantner, German parliamentary state secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, arrived in Taiwan yesterday for a two-day visit, the German Institute Taipei said yesterday, without disclosing further details.
Brantner was to meet with Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Yui (俞大?), German business daily Handelsblatt reported.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said that Yui would welcome Brantner on behalf of the ministry.
Photo from Franziska Brantner’s Facebook page
Exchanges between Taiwan and Germany have been increasing, the ministry said, citing two delegations sent by the German Bundestag to Taiwan last month.
Germany’s governing coalition, which was formed by the Social Democrats, Greens and Free Democrats in November last year, said that Berlin supports Taiwan’s participation in international organizations, and that the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait could only be changed by a bilateral agreement between Taiwan and China.
Ahead of her trip, Brantner published an article in the Frankfurter Rundschau on Sunday saying that Germany “must find partners to become more independent from China.”
The COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine highlighted the fragility of international supply chains, as energy, semiconductors, wind turbines and solar panels are all controlled by a few companies, she wrote.
To be more resilient, Germany has to “turn to the world” to diversify risks, with the German government assisting private companies, she added.
Germany plans to engage in “raw material diplomacy,” helping democratic nations extract raw materials while ensuring ecological and social fairness, she wrote.
European Council President Charles Michel echoed the sentiment yesterday, saying before the G20 leaders’ summit in Indonesia that Europe is to engage with China, but needs to “rebalance” the relationship to avoid becoming too reliant on the nation in areas like innovative technology.
Europe would also engage with China despite differences between the two sides, as it was “important to listen to each other, to develop a better understanding,” Michel told a news conference.
However, Europe must avoid making “the same mistakes” it made by relying too heavily on Russian fossil fuels, he said.
Brantner has on several occasions voiced her support for Taiwan. When China imposed economic sanctions on Lithuania for opening a Trade Representative Office in Taipei, Brantner openly expressed her support for Lithuania.
She also attended the 20th Taiwan-Germany Joint Business Council Meeting in August via videoconference, together with Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Chen Chern-chyi (陳正祺).
Economic relations with Germany and the EU have also become closer. From January to last month, Taiwan’s exports to the EU rose 14.9 percent, while imports increased 8.8 percent, data from the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) showed.
Total trade with the EU last year climbed 32.5 percent to US$68.75 billion, making Taiwan the EU’s 13th-largest trading partner, the DGBAS said.
Bilateral trade in the first 10 months of the year reached US$62.6 billion, up 11.6 percent , it said.
Outbound shipments to Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and Belgium accounted for 67.8 percent of Taiwan’s total exports to the EU last year, it said.
In related news, National Science and Technology Council Minister Wu Tsung-tsong (吳政忠) yesterday left Taiwan for a visit to France and Germany.
Wu is to meet German Federal Minister of Education and Research Bettina Stark-Watzinger in Berlin to discuss cooperation opportunities in batteries, semiconductors, artificial intelligence and hydrogen energy, German media outlet Deutsche Welle reported.
The German ministry told reporters that Berlin hoped to promote cooperation with Taiwan and other international partners with “a promise of freedom, democracy and human rights,” it reported.
Additional reporting by Reuters
CONGRESSIONAL SUPPORT: A new committee would investigate a backlog of US weapons sales to Taiwan, said its chairman, US Representative Mike Gallagher The US should formally recognize Taiwan as an independent nation, and end its outdated and counterproductive “one China” policy, US Representative Tom Tiffany and 18 other US lawmakers wrote in a petition. “It is time to change the status quo and recognize the reality denied by the US government for decades: Taiwan is an independent nation,” Tiffany told the Epoch Times. “As our long-standing and valued partner, correctly acknowledging their independence from communist China is long overdue.” The resolution also asks the administration of US President Joe Biden to support Taiwan’s membership in international organizations and to negotiate a bilateral free-trade
GUT FEELING: In the leaked memo, US Air Force General Mike Minihan urged mobile command personnel to go to a firing range, shoot at a target and ‘aim for the head’ A four-star US Air Force general has warned of a conflict with China as early as 2025 — most likely over Taiwan — and urged his commanders to push their units to achieve maximum operational battle readiness this year. In an internal memorandum that first emerged on social media on Friday, and was later confirmed as genuine by the Pentagon, Air Mobility Command Commander General Mike Minihan said that the main goal should be to deter “and, if required, defeat” China. “I hope I am wrong. My gut tells me we will fight in 2025,” Minihan said. Minihan said that Taiwan’s presidential election
INCREASED RISK: The Omicron BA.2.75 subvariant has higher immune evasive capacity, but the CECC is more concerned about newer subvariants such as XBB and BQ.1 With the peak season for infectious respiratory diseases coming to an end, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday said that details of the next phase of lifting COVID-19 masking rules — removing the mask requirement in most indoor settings — are to be announced this week. Discussions on lifting other COVID-19 restrictions are also being held, including further easing border control measures, home isolation requirements and revising the definition for reporting cases, while also downgrading COVID-19 to a lower category of notifiable communicable disease, said Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝), who heads the CECC. As the daily
DEMOCRATIC SYSTEM: Czech president-elect Petr Pavel said his nation stands firmly on the side of democracy and would boost cooperation with Taipei in all aspects Czech president-elect Petr Pavel spoke by telephone with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday, a highly unusual move given the lack of formal ties and a diplomatic coup for Taipei. Tsai spoke with Pavel for 15 minutes in a harmonious atmosphere, Presidential Office spokeswoman Lin Yu-chan (林聿禪) said, adding that Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) was also present during the conversation. Lin quoted Pavel as telling Tsai that Taiwan is a trustworthy partner, adding that the Czech Republic stands firmly on the side of democracy and supports Taiwan in maintaining a lively democratic system free from authoritarian coercion. The Czech Republic would