Diplomatisches Magazin, a German foreign affairs magazine, published a Taiwan issue this month to celebrate the inauguration of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) second term on May 20.
“I am pleased that the elections led to a special feature on Taiwan,” said Klaus-Peter Willsch, chairman of the Berlin-Taipei Parliamentary Friendship Group and a member of the German parliament.
Willsch argued in the magazine’s editorial that Ma’s re-election seemed to indicate that Taiwanese favored a continuation of policies that have seen generally improved relations with China.
However, the parliamentarian noted that although Taiwan and Germany enjoy flourishing trade relations, political advancement has been difficult due to Germany’s narrow “one China” framework.
Willsch said his group was doing all it could to ensure that no new restrictions are imposed on Taiwan.
“Many colleagues regret that Taiwan is being ‘left by the wayside’ as far as politics is concerned — despite the flourishing trade relations — which is why they are active in the friendship group,” Willsch said.
“The abolition of the Schengen visa requirements and a double taxation treaty signed last year are great achievements, which we have fought for intensively,” he said.
Taiwan is Germany’s fifth--largest trade partner in the -Asia-Pacific region, and last year, bilateral trade between the two countries reached 13 billion euros (US$17 billion), Germany’s parliamentary secretary to the minister of economics and technology, Hans-Joachim Otto, wrote in the magazine.
Otto said that Taiwanese companies are becoming market leaders in information and communications technology, as well as in LED and photovoltaic technology.
Taiwan’s economic development in the Asia-Pacific region has been impressive, he added.
With the signing of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement with China in 2010, Taiwan had become an alternative gateway for German investors looking to invest in China, Otto said.
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
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TAKE BREAKS: A woman developed cystitis by refusing to get up to use the bathroom while playing mahjong for fear of disturbing her winning streak, a doctor said People should stand up and move around often while traveling or playing mahjong during the Lunar New Year holiday, as prolonged sitting can lead to cystitis or hemorrhoids, doctors said. Yuan’s General Hospital urologist Lee Tsung-hsi (李宗熹) said that he treated a 63-year-old woman surnamed Chao (趙) who had been sitting motionless and holding off going to the bathroom, increasing her risk of bladder infection. Chao would drink beverages and not urinate for several hours while playing mahjong with friends and family, especially when she was on a winning streak, afraid that using the bathroom would ruin her luck, he said. She had
MUST REMAIN FREE: A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would lead to a global conflict, and if the nation blows up, the world’s factories would fall in a week, a minister said Taiwan is like Prague in 1938 facing Adolf Hitler; only if Taiwan remains free and democratic would the world be safe, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The ministry on Saturday said Corriere della Sera is one of Italy’s oldest and most read newspapers, frequently covers European economic and political issues, and that Wu agreed to an interview with the paper’s senior political analyst Massimo Franco in Taipei on Jan. 3. The interview was published on Jan. 26 with the title “Taiwan like Prague in 1938 with Hitler,” the ministry
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