Germany will send its federal minister to visit Taiwan next week for talks on research cooperation, an official said on Friday, marking the first high-level visit by a German minister to Taiwan in over two decades.
Education and Research Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger will meet with Taiwanese officials during her two-day trip to Taiwan to discuss expanding cooperation in chip research, green hydrogen, and batteries, a ministry spokesperson said.
Government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit clarified that the minister’s visit to Taiwan is not related to the self-ruled island’s sovereignty and Germany maintains its stance on the “One China” policy.
“We are also in regular and close contact with China and the Chinese leadership,” he told reporters. “The visit that the minister for education and research is making to Taiwan now doesn’t call into question our stance in any way.”…