Germany’s foreign ministry says that Taiwan and Germany can hold minister-level exchanges. Foreign ministry official Petra Sigmund made the comment during a recent public hearing on the possibility of Germany forging diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
Right now Germany, like most of the world’s countries, recognizes China rather than Taiwan. That’s because China insists that Taiwan is part of its territory and forbids its diplomatic allies from recognizing Taiwan.
The push for Germany to forge ties with Taiwan was initiated by German citizen Michael Kreuzberg. He said he does not want to see Taiwan annexed by China. Kreuzberg said that ensuring Taiwan’s security is the moral responsibility of Western countries. However, the Germany foreign ministry says there are no plans to change the country’s “one China” policy. Instead, Germany says it will expand its ties with Taiwan, in light of the fact that both sides value democracy and freedom.
It has been many years since a minister-level official from Germany last visited Taiwan. Sigmund said, though, that Taiwan is a valued partner and that the two sides maintain good working relations.