Her Minister of Education Germany Bettina Stark-Wahinger arrived in Taipei today, becoming the country’s first minister to pay an official visit Taiwan for more than two and a half decades, while tensions between the island and China it is sharpened.

“It is a great pleasure and honor for me to be the first minister (…) to visit Taiwan in 26 years,” Stark-Wachinger said at the signing of the bilateral science and technology agreement.

Angecommen in #Taiwan, einem Hochtechnologiesstandort und Wertepartner. Mit Minister Tsung-Tsong Wu habe ich mich über unsere Forschungskooperationen ausgetauscht. Innovation and progress live thanks to international cooperation. Freue mich auf die weiteren Gespräche. pic.twitter.com/mG0NUKEp49

— Bettina Stark-Watzinger (@starkwatzinger) March 21, 2023

like-minded partners

Under the agreement, Taiwan and Germany plan to expand cooperation in areas such as lithium batteries, hydrogen, artificial intelligence and semiconductors.

The German minister said it was important to develop cooperation “with like-minded partners.”

For his part, Wu Chun-Chong, head of the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), said the visit showed that Germany views Taiwan as a “valuable partner.”

“If we combine Taiwan’s chip manufacturing capabilities with German applications in some cutting-edge industries such as biomedicine and automotive, it will be a win-win partnership for the next 10, 20 or even 30 years,” Wu said.

Beijing speaks of a “malicious visit.”

China, for its part, said it “strongly opposes” this “malicious” visit.

“China made an official protest expressing strong dissatisfaction with the German side,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said.

China considers Taiwan part of its territory and opposes official visits to the island by representatives of other countries.

Last week, the German Foreign Ministry reaffirmed its commitment to the One China principle, under which Berlin maintains official relations only with Beijing. However, Germany has indicated that it maintains “close ties with Taiwan”.

^{Source: APE, dpa, AFP, Reuters.}