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<\/p>\nGermany\u2019s de facto embassy in Taiwan is expanding its diplomatic presence as Berlin seeks to deepen relations with Taipei, new German Representative to Taiwan Karsten Tietz said.<\/p>\n
Tietz, who assumed office last month, said the German Institute Taipei \u2014 which represents Berlin\u2019s interests in Taiwan in the absence of formal diplomatic ties \u2014 was undergoing a period of growth as Germany looks to bolster supply chain resilience and adapt to shifting geopolitical dynamics.<\/p>\n
Germany now defines its relations with Taiwan in line with its China strategy, which emphasizes the need to derisk Berlin\u2019s economic relations with Beijing and to diversify supply chains, Tietz said on Thursday.<\/p>\n
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Photo: CNA<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll still be doing a lot of business with China, but not exclusively. So we are looking for other partners to diversify, and Taiwan is one of them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Tietz described Taiwan as a key partner in efforts to bolster the resilience of supply chains for semiconductors and other critical industries, citing shared values of freedom and democracy, as well as respect for the rules-based international order.<\/p>\n
Bilateral collaboration is not confined to semiconductors, which have gained momentum with the foundry Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co is building in Dresden, Germany, he said, adding that the two sides recently signed agreements to deepen cooperation in microelectronics, artificial intelligence and hydrogen.<\/p>\n
Given Taiwan\u2019s growing importance to Berlin, the German Institute Taipei would add four new people by January next year, bringing the total to 25, including local hires, Tietz said.<\/p>\n
In particular, the number of people handling political, economic and cultural affairs would double from two to four, he said, describing this expansion as \u201ca clear signal that we place high importance on our relations [with Taiwan] and want to be more visible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Germany has also stepped up its regional presence, with two German military vessels transiting the Taiwan Strait in September last year for the first time in 22 years.<\/p>\n
Other G7 nations \u2014 including the US, the UK, Canada and France \u2014 have over the past few years sent military vessels through the Strait to assert the principle of freedom of navigation.<\/p>\n
Tietz said that during his time as Hong Kong deputy consul general from 2015 to 2018, he witnessed the erosion of civil liberties following the failure of the \u201cUmbrella movement,\u201d adding that it \u201cleft a lasting impact\u201d on him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI basically saw how a free society turned into one where people don\u2019t dare to exercise freedoms,\u201d he said. \u201cI have a deep understanding for people in Taiwan who caution against believing that the \u2018one country, two systems\u2019 would work, after seeing what happened in Hong Kong.\u201d<\/p>\n
One country, two systems \u201cdidn\u2019t work in Hong Kong… it doesn\u2019t exist anymore,\u201d Tietz said, referring to the arrangement that promised Hong Kong 50 years of autonomy, and which China said it would apply to Taiwan once it takes the nation.<\/p>\n
It is encouraging that Taiwanese society shares the values of Germany and the EU, he said.<\/p>\n
Germany, like other European nations, is facing aggression from Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and has escalated tensions further by sending drones into the airspace of Poland, a NATO member, Tietz said.<\/p>\n
Against this backdrop, Berlin has decided to increase defense spending, in line with NATO policy pledges, he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll our freedoms, all our social welfare, all our aspirations of young people… mean nothing if… we are too weak to defend our society and to defend the values Germany and the European Union stand for,\u201d Tietz said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Germany\u2019s de facto embassy in Taiwan is expanding its diplomatic presence as Berlin seeks to deepen relations with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":443648,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5310],"tags":[2000,299,1824,17260,17259],"class_list":{"0":"post-443647","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-germany","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-germany","11":"tag-the-taipei-times","12":"tag-17259"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115248865709645104","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443647","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=443647"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443647\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/443648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=443647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=443647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=443647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}