A visit by German Minister of Education and Research Bettina Stark-Watzinger to Taiwan signals the normalization of relations between Taiwan and Germany, a German expert on cross-strait relations said.
Stark-Watzinger, who is scheduled to arrive in Taiwan today for a two-day visit, is the first German minister to visit the nation in 26 years.
“One could say that this is a return to normal after decades of self-censorship,” German Institute for International and Security Affairs senior fellow Gudrun Wacker told German newspaper Der Tagesspiegel.
Photo: AFP
As Germany and China increased interactions in economic and political fields after the 1990s, the European country abstained from engaging in exchanges with Taiwan that would aggravate Beijing, she said.
The paper called the visit “a journey of historical dimension,” while Die Zeit said it is “symbolic,” considering cross-strait tensions and China’s resentment toward visits by German parliamentarians since autumn last year.
“The aim of the trip is to strengthen and expand cooperation with Taiwan in science, research and education,” the German Ministry of Education and Research said, adding that “Germany and Taiwan share the same values and are committed to them: peace, freedom, human rights.”
The semiconductor industry would be the focus of the minister’s visit, as Taiwan is a global leader in the field and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co is reportedly planning to set up its first European plant in Dresden, Germany, Der Tagesspiegel reported.
Stark-Watzinger is scheduled to meet with National Science and Technology Council Minister Wu Tsung-tsong (吳政忠), Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) and Minister of Digital Affairs Audrey Tang (唐鳳) to discuss cooperation in the high-tech field, along with green hydrogen, battery research and educational cooperation, it said.
“The visit of the minister of science makes a lot of sense, because it is exactly the type of cooperation that we are striving for with Taiwan,” European Council on Foreign Relations Asia program director Janka Oertel said.
The trip could also help create “awareness in Germany that Taiwan is a place of freedom, democracy and innovation whose existence is in danger,” she added.
As high-ranking visits always provoke aggressive reactions from China, “ensuring Taiwan’s security, integrating it internationally and protecting it from violent annexation by China” are essential, Oertel said.
“Taiwan is a valued partner in every sense of the word — a model democracy in Asia that also behaves responsibly internationally,” Wacker said.
Boosting exchanges with Taiwan does not contradict the German “one China” policy, Wacker said, adding that Germany should signal to Beijing that “violent action against Taiwan would have a high price.”
The Chinese embassy in Berlin on Friday last week voiced opposition to the planned visit, calling on Germany to “adhere to the ‘one China’ principle without making any compromises,” the Editorial Network Germany reported.
Mutual ministerial visits are “completely normal,” and are in line with the German “one China” policy, the German Federal Foreign Office said on the same day.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
Taiwanese celebrities Hank Chen (陳漢典) and Lulu Huang (黃路梓茵) announced yesterday that they are planning to marry. Huang announced and posted photos of their engagement to her social media pages yesterday morning, joking that the pair were not just doing marketing for a new show, but “really getting married.” “We’ve decided to spend all of our future happy and hilarious moments together,” she wrote. The announcement, which was later confirmed by the talent agency they share, appeared to come as a surprise even to those around them, with veteran TV host Jacky Wu (吳宗憲) saying he was “totally taken aback” by the news. Huang,
RSS