Officials said Friday that Germany’s education and research minister will pay an official visit to Taiwan next week. This will be the highest visit by a German official since 1997 to the island, which China claims as part of its territory.
The March 20-22 visit comes amid rising tensions between China and the West, including Beijing’s stance on Russia’s war in Ukraine. China reacted angrily when then-Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi traveled to Taiwan last year.
Spokesman Martin Kleinmass said the visit by Education Minister Bettina Stark-Witzinger, whose department also oversees science, will focus on cooperation in the areas of chip research and manufacturing, hydrogen production and batteries.
Germany needs to step up to confront Russia and start pulling its weight in Ukraine
Government spokesman Steffen Hebbestreit said the visit did not signal any change of heart when it comes to Germany’s policy on Taiwan, which supports the EU’s practice of cooperating with Taipei on a technical level without questioning the “one China” principle.
German Minister of Science and Education Bettina Stark-Witzinger will make an official trip to Taiwan next week, officials said on March 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn, pool, file)
“We are also in regular and close contact with China and the Chinese leadership,” he said. “The visit that the Minister of Education and Research is paying to Taiwan now does not question our position in any way.”
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The last German cabinet-level official to visit Taiwan in 26 years was then-Economy Minister Günter Rexroth, a member of the same libertarian Free Democratic Party as Stark-Witzinger. The party has been pushing for a tougher stance on Beijing on human rights and freedom of expression.
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