Taiwan and the 'Zeitenwende' + EU Chamber optimistic • China.Table

Taiwan: Approaching the ‘Zeitenwende’
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Dear reader,

Visits to Taiwan by politicians to express solidarity have been very popular in recent months. Felix Lee took this as an opportunity to investigate whether the diplomatic visits marked a turning point in Germany’s Taiwan policy. The German Social Democratic Party (SPD) is of particular interest here; after all, the Greens and the Free Democratic Party (FDP) have already clearly positioned themselves.

Renowned SPD foreign policy experts Michael Roth and Nils Schmid confirmed to Lee that a change in thinking is taking place, even if the conventional policy guidelines toward China continue to apply. In the overall picture, a real turning point is approaching so rapidly that experts are already alarmed: A real departure from the One-China principle would do more harm than good to Taiwan.

3 days, 23 appointments – the need for personal exchange is great. Travel restrictions have barely been lifted when a delegation from the EU Chamber of Commerce visits Brussels. The representatives of European companies met with MPs, EU Commission representatives and Chinese diplomats. Apart from Covid, numerous other economic and political issues concern entrepreneurs. Chamber President Joerg Wuttke found pithy words to describe the direction of the People’s Republic under Xi: “More Marx instead of market.” Marcel Grzanna reports from Brussels.

Your
Julia Fiedler

Feature

Germany’s Taiwan policy approaches turning point

SPD deputy Michael Roth: Russia policy as a model for dealing with China.

One visit to Taiwan by German MPs follows the next – politicians from the Greens, SPD, FDP and CDU outdo each other with declarations of solidarity for the island nation. This intensity is new. Admittedly, this is by no means a formal Zeitenwende for dealing with the status quo. But MPs are already pushing it so far that experts are downright alarmed.

By
Felix Lee

The Taiwan conflict has arrived on Berlin’s political scene. Not long ago, there was a chance that MPs would confuse Taiwan with Thailand. Today, one visit to Taiwan by German politicians follows the next. The preservation of Taiwan as a democratic state is at the top of the foreign policy agenda. Politicians apparently hope to score points with voters at home by showing solidarity for the island 9,000 kilometers away.

The German foreign and economic ministries, both led by the Greens, have explicitly mentioned support for Taiwan in their leaked strategy papers. With the current visit of a high-ranking liberal FDP delegation to Taipei, including chairwoman of the defense committee Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, the FDP as the second governing party is also sending a clear signal in support of an independent Taiwan.

SPD positions itself: Russia policy should become blueprint

And even the SPD has chosen a harsher tone, even though, like the previous government under Angela Merkel, it actually favors cooperation with the leadership in Beijing and does not risk German business interests in the People’s Republic under any circumstances. “Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has unfortunately opened our eyes in a united Europe and in the community of democratic, free constitutional states far too late,” SPD MP Michael Roth, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, told China.Table.

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