Former West German president Walter Scheel on Tuesday called for both sides of the Taiwan Strait not to resort to force under any circumstances in dealing with cross-strait differences.
Scheel, in a speech at the Double Ten National Day cocktail party in Berlin, quoted President Chen Shui-bian (
In his speech, the 85-year-old Scheel said that Taiwan's democratization and the freedom that its people enjoy are facts that deserve the respect of the international community.
Annual two-way trade between Taiwan and Germany has reached some 1 billion euros, making Taiwan one of Germany's major trade partners in Asia, Scheel said.
He also expressed his appreciation to the National Palace Museum for having arranged for its flagship collections to be exhibited in Germany, allowing the German people to savor the magnificent Chinese culture without having to travel to China.
Scheel said he hopes that Taiwan and Germany will enhance their bilateral cultural exchanges in the future.
Meanwhile, Wolfgang Lueder, chairman of the German China Association, praised Taiwan and its people in his speech to the cocktail party.
Citing the story of a Taiwanese farmer who planted Chinese mushrooms in a Berlin suburb and went on to market his produce throughout Europe, Lueder said that Taiwan's people have been important investors in Germany beyond the high-tech field.
Lueder said that Taiwan -- with its economic strength and high level of human rights -- would be worthy of being invited by German politicians to join the EU if the island were located in the Mediterranean Sea. His remarks received loud applause from those attending the cocktail party.
Established in Germany 47 years ago, the German China Association has been an influential private organization devoted to relations between the German and Chinese people.
Since its inception it has maintained close interactions with Taiwan.
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