Taiwan’s representative to Germany, Shieh Jhy-wey, is calling for more military cooperation between the two countries. Shieh says Berlin should invite Taiwan to its next Indo-Pacific military exercises or arrange more bilateral exchanges.
The representative said in an interview with Reuters on Wednesday that he has seen the German government change its stance towards China. Critics of German policy say that for a long time, Germany has taken a weak position on China. That’s because China has been Germany’s biggest trading partner since 2016. According to the German government, business between the two countries was worth almost US$250 billion last year.
However the incumbent German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has vowed to take a harder stance on China. The coalition deal that formed his government last year mentioned Taiwan in its text — the very first time that has happened. The deal states that any changes to the status quo in the Taiwan Strait must be done in a peaceful way with the agreement of both sides.
Shieh says that Germany’s long term policy towards China has been promoting change through doing business. Now, he says it has shifted to focusing on geopolitical concerns.