Taipei, Oct. 4, (dpa/GNA) – Lawmakers from Taiwan’s legislature said on Tuesday that a new round of parliamentary exchanges with German counterparts will help boost bilateral relations by building deeper understanding.
Klaus-Peter Willsch and five German parliamentary colleagues arrived in Taipei on Sunday for a five-day official visit. It is the first official delegation from Germany to visit Taiwan since the coronavirus pandemic began in 2019 and interrupted regular exchanges.
On Tuesday, the cross-party German delegation met with You Si-kun, the legislative speaker, and Taiwanese lawmakers.
Fan Yun, deputy chairperson of the Taiwan and German Parliamentary Friendship Association, told dpa that topics discussed in a meeting include: Taiwan’s pandemic prevention and control measures against Covid-19; transitional justice; gender equality; education; and protection of personal data.
“We particularly expressed appreciation to their cross-party’s support for Taiwan’s participation in international organizations,” Fan, of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, told dpa.
Fan said Taiwan should take advantage of parliamentary diplomacy. “If Taiwan gains a cross-party support in a country’s parliament, which represents the people, then its government will consequently support Taiwan,” Fan said.
“It’s ridiculous and very stupid to hold Taiwan away from international cooperation like the International Civil Aviation Organization. … The same applies for the World Health Assembly,” Willsch told dpa on Monday.
“Without discussing status questions, we just do our work as parliamentarians with partner parliamentarians in a free country with rule of law and with democracy … like Germany,” Willsch said, adding that that Taiwan is a beacon of freedom in Asia.
“There are a lot of steps we can make. We have good cooperation in terms of science, culture, dealing with history with political process, and all that. It’s really a good and high-level relationship between Taiwan and Germany. We’re working on it in a positive way,” Willsch told dpa.
“Taiwan is a normal democracy struggling with same problems as many democracies do,” Till Steffen of the German Green Party told dpa on Monday, citing common challenges such as social division and energy supply.
Steffen said that, in parliamentary exchanges, there are a lot of topics to talk about. “We don’t have to talk about relations between China and Taiwan,” Steffen said, adding that his office back in Germany received protests from Chinese embassy on his trip to Taiwan, which he described as “business as usual.”
On Tuesday, visiting German lawmakers also exchanged views with experts from Taiwan’s think tanks focusing on national defence and cybersecurity.
On Monday, after being received by Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen, the German delegation also visited Eric Chu, chairperson of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), Taiwan’s main opposition party, to exchanges views on Taiwan’s energy policy and the situation across the Taiwan Strait.
Despite the lack of official diplomatic relations, Taiwan ranks fifth among Germany’s trading partners in Asia. However, it does not trade as much with any other EU member as it does with Germany. The exchange of goods between the two sides exceeded $20 billion last year, a new record.
Beijing opposes official contacts between countries and Taipei as it regards Taiwan as part of China. Beijing has also threatened to take the island by force if necessary. Taiwan is self-ruled and has long seen itself as independent.
GNA