German lawmakers say Taiwan ties ‘extremely important’ ahead of visit

A delegation of German lawmakers is travelling to Taiwan despite expected protests from Beijing, which claims the democratically governed island as part of China.

These relations are "extremely important" to the Bundestag, Till Steffen, chairman of the Berlin-Taipei Parliamentary Circle of Friends, told dpa ahead of the visit's start on Sunday.

“There is a great deal of support for Taiwan in the German Bundestag. The country is being watched with close attention,” said Steffen, a lawmaker from the Green party.

Many representatives from Taiwan regularly travel to Berlin to seek contacts with German lawmakers, he added.

Steffen brushed aside the expected protests from Beijing over the visit.

“I would advise China not to interfere,” he said. “These are long-standing and stable relations that we have. We maintain them and we are expanding them.”

China regularly protests visits by foreign lawmakers to Taiwan.

The last visit by members of the Berlin-Taipei friendship group took place in late 2022. At the time, Beijing urged the delegation to adhere to the “One China” and to “immediately cease” contacts with what it called “separatist independence forces” in Taiwan.

China’s leadership views Taiwan as part of its territory and has threatened to seize the island by force if necessary. However, the democratic island of around 23 million people has never been governed by the communist People’s Republic of China, founded in 1949.

Steffen is leading the five-member delegation, which is due to arrive in the Taiwanese capital Taipei on Sunday. They will depart on May 31.

The group also includes lawmakers Klaus-Peter Willsch and Markus Reichel from Chancellor Friedrich Merz's conservative Christian Democrats, as well as Rainer Kraft from the far-right Alternative for Germany and Mandy Eissing from the Left Party.

In addition to meetings with Taiwanese parliamentarians, talks are planned with Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te.

Referring to recent US policy towards Taiwan, including the recent pause of a multibillion-dollar arms sale, Steffen said: “The reliability of the United States is declining. That is being felt very strongly in Taiwan.”

“As a result, there is strong interest there in working more closely with other countries. Europe is therefore coming much more into focus,” he said.

Taiwan was also highly interested in attracting direct investment from Germany, he added.