Berlin The latest developments in the Taiwan conflict between China and the USA have also caused unrest in Germany. Foreign policy spokesman for the SPD faction Nils Schmid on Wednesday criticized the timing of Nancy Pelosi’s visit, who traveled to Taiwan earlier this week – the highest-ranking visit by a US politician in 25 years.
According to Schmid, Pelosi’s visit does not represent a breach of the USA’s previous Taiwan policy. “Nevertheless, the question of whether the time of the trip was cleverly chosen is justified,” said the SPD politician to the Handelsblatt.
On the one hand, China is extremely nervous about the forthcoming party congress and, moreover, “the West has an interest in softening China’s loyalty to Russia a little bit.” Schmid believes it will be more difficult now.
In fact, however, experts doubt that China can be persuaded to move away from Russia in the Ukraine conflict. Since the Russian attack, Beijing has backed Moscow on the international stage and openly blamed NATO and the US for the war in Ukraine.
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China regards Taiwan as part of its territory, even though the island has never been part of the People’s Republic founded in 1949, and wants to isolate the country internationally. In addition, it requires the governments of states that want to have relations with Beijing not to maintain official diplomatic relations with the Taiwanese government.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry reacted to the US politician’s visit with sharp words and the announcement of a four-day military exercise near Taiwan.
CDU does not join criticism
Support for Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan came from the CDU. “I do not agree with the criticism of Nancy Pelosi’s trip,” said the foreign policy spokesman for the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, Jürgen Hardt, to the Handelsblatt.
It neither represents a change in the American position, nor will it be a pretext for renewed Chinese repression against Taiwan. “Not the USA, but China itself is shifting the position on the Taiwan question at the expense of freedom,” said Hardt.
He called on the federal government to develop a joint transatlantic China strategy and coordinated action by the European Union with North America, Japan and other partners in the free world. “I think it is conceivable that conflicts with China can be settled if we fully leverage our common weight in economic and trade policy,” said Hardt.
Here you can find more about the Taiwan conflict:
The Taiwan conflict is leading to increasing tensions between Germany and China, which is also increasingly worrying the German economy. Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) tightened her warnings towards Beijing on Tuesday evening. China’s comments on Taiwan raise serious questions, Baerbock said. “In the past few months since February 24, we have painfully learned that aggressive rhetoric can quickly turn into dangerous action.”
The German foreign minister backed Taiwan.
(Photo: dpa)
China had already reacted angrily to Baerbock’s critical statements the day before. The German Foreign Minister traveled to New York on Monday to attend the NPT review conference.
There she had sent a sharp warning to Beijing: “We will not accept international law being broken and a larger neighbor attacking its smaller neighbor in violation of international law – and that of course also applies to China.” The head of the department for Europe at the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Wang Lutong , spoke to the German ambassador in Beijing, according to Baerbock’s “false comments”.
>> Read here: Baerbock fights for nuclear disarmament at the nuclear weapons conference in New York
In the event of a Chinese attack on Taiwan, experts see Germany under pressure to stand by the side of the USA. The federal government cannot act autonomously in the event of a conflict because it is dependent on the United States for security policy, says Thomas Jäger, Professor of International Politics at the University of Cologne. “Germany cannot distance itself far from the USA because Europe needs the Americans in Europe – otherwise the war here would be very different,” estimates Jäger.
concerns in the German economy
The President of the industry association BGA, Dirk Jandura, warned on Wednesday with regard to Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan: “We do not need any further escalation of the conflict and deterioration in the economic relations of our two largest trading partners, the USA and China.”
The around 250 German companies in Taiwan are also observing the tense situation very closely, said Ilja Nothnagel, member of the DIHK main management board, to the Handelsblatt. “Especially since economic sanctions have already been announced by the Chinese side.” Taiwan plays an important role as a supplier in global supply chains – and thus also for German industry – especially in electronics and semiconductors.
Taiwan is also located on an important sea route. Even the large military maneuvers lasting several days that Beijing announced in response to the Pelosi visit are causing disruptions in the logistics chain. According to a report by the Bloomberg news agency, freighters will have to be diverted during the military action, which will cause delays in deliveries.
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