German politicians due in Taipei as West escalates China tensions

Germany will send a high-ranking parliamentary delegation to Taipei next week, a move highly likely to spark tensions with China.

The head of the German parliament's defense committee, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, said on Tuesday deputies from the pro-business Free Democratic Party (FDP), a junior partner in Germany's coalition government, planned the trip in a gesture of "solidarity" with the self-ruled island.

The trip is to reportedly be followed by a visit from German Education Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger in the spring. It would be the first by a member of the German cabinet in 26 years.

Strack-Zimmermann said the delegation would meet with representatives of the Taipei government and the opposition as well as human rights organizations, business leaders and members of the military during its stay from Monday to Thursday.

"Our trip to Taiwan at the start of the new year is meant to clearly show that we will never accept the plain law of the strongest becoming part of international politics again, including in the Indo-Pacific."

Chinese President Xi Jinping has already made it clear that he is “prepared to resolve the conflict over the role of Taiwan also with military means.”

In August 2022, the German air force boosted its presence in the Indo-Pacific with the deployment of 13 military aircraft, one year after it dispatched a frigate to the region.

Germany to send warships to Indo-Pacific as tensions with China escalate

Germany says it will send more warships to the Indo-Pacific, joining other Western nations in expanding its military presence in the region, as China ramps up operations around Taiwan.

Berlin's latest diplomatic overtures to Taipei are likely to rile the government in Beijing. China has reacted with growing anger to a flurry of visits by Western politicians to the island.

Amid recent tensions between Beijing and Washington over the latter’s political and military interference in Taipei, President Xi has said the "reunification" of Taiwan cannot be passed on to future generations. 

China firmly opposes any official contact between EU, Taiwan

China has strongly warned the European Union (EU) against establishing any official contact with Chinese Taipei, urging the bloc to "act prudently" to avoid harming China-EU relations.

The year 2022 saw a spike in tensions as Beijing launched its largest war games in decades to protest against a visit in August by then US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Ahead of the G20 Summit in Indonesia in December, Xi told US President Joe Biden the issue of Taipei is China’s “first red line” in bilateral relations, warning that Washington must not cross the line. The United States, though professing adherence to the principle, has long courted Taipei and sells weapons to the self-governed island in an attempted affront to Beijing. Some US allies in Europe, in particular, have also been increasing visits to Taipei, despite strong objections by Beijing, which bristles at anything that suggests the self-ruled island is a separate country.

China has sovereignty over Chinese Taipei, and under the 'One China' policy, almost all world countries recognize that sovereignty, meaning they would not establish direct diplomatic contact with the self-proclaimed government in Taipei.

China has warned the European Union (EU) against establishing any official contact with Chinese Taipei, urging the bloc to "act prudently" to avoid harming China-EU relations.

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