While German Economic Affairs Minister Katherina Reiche is visiting Beijing, a delegation from the Bundestag, Germany's lower house of parliament is in Taiwan. 

The Berlin-Taipei Parliamentary Friendship Group, a cross-party association of MPs that promotes international exchange, has traveled there to "strengthen economic and cultural cooperation with one of the region's most important democratic partners," the Bundestag said in a statement.

Till Steffen of the Green Party is leading the five-member delegation, which also includes lawmakers Klaus-Peter Willsch and Markus Reichel from Chancellor Friedrich Merz's conservative Christian Democrats (CDU), as well as Rainer Kraft from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) and Mandy Eissing from the Left Party.

The nine-day trip has sparked criticism from Beijing. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said China has always opposed any form of official exchanges between its diplomatic partners and Taiwan.

Beijing sees self-ruled Taiwan as a breakaway province that one day will be "reunited" with the mainland.

German MP shrugs off criticism from Beijing

"It is in Germany's interest to have a balanced situation and not to depend solely on China," said delegation leader Steffen. Economic dependence on China — for example in batteries for electric cars — has put Germany in a difficult position, he added.

"It is fine to do business with Beijing, but we should not become dependent on China," Steffen said. "That is why it is necessary to maintain close relations with other countries at the same time. It is therefore a good thing that we are carrying out a joint research project with Taiwan on the batteries of the future." 

The AfD's Kraft points out that before German reunification in 1990, China maintained diplomatic relations with both the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and the German Democratic Republic (GDR) at the same time.

Although Germany does not maintain official diplomatic relations with Taiwan, it has economic, cultural and research ties with the island.

Kraft also emphasized the economic dimension.

"It is very important for Germany to be a partner to Taiwan," he told DW. "Taiwan is a global leader in the semiconductor sector. Semiconductors are essential for the economy of the future — for artificial intelligence and data centers. Given our economic challenges, Germany must not miss the opportunity to remain economically strong in the future."

Economically interconnected

Taiwanese semiconductor giant TSMC has been building a new factory in the eastern German state of Saxony since 2024.

Together with the German companies Bosch, Infineon and NXP, chips for the European market are to be produced in the city of Dresden from 2027.

The total investment amounts to €10 billion, which the AfD's Kraft considers a successful example of how investors from Taiwan are creating new, high-quality jobs in Germany.  

Taiwan's President William Lai Ching-te also praised the TSMC project in Dresden.

"This milestone not only strengthens industrial cooperation between Taiwan and Europe. It is also a contribution by Taiwan and Germany to ensuring global supply chains and the shared canon of democratic values," Lai said while receiving the German delegation.

Lai thanked the Berlin–Taipei Parliamentary Friendship Group for its support in helping Taiwan gain greater international participation.

"Based on its own historical experience, Taiwan, like Germany, values universal rights such as democracy, freedom and the rule of law," Lai said.

"In light of the rapidly changing international situation, we are aware that the rules-based international order can only be upheld through cooperation among partners and peoples," Lai added. In doing so, he alluded to mainland China and deliberately avoided using the terms "country" or "nation."

Balancing peace and deterrence over Taiwan

Beijing has said it prefers "peaceful reunification," but it often uses threatening statements and has not ruled out the use of military force if Taiwan were to declare independence.

"Chancellor Merz always says: 'We want to be able to defend ourselves so that we never have to.' And that applies to Taiwan as well," said delegation leader Steffen.

Merz was referring to the heightened security threat posed by Russia and the limited willingness of the United States to support Europe in the event of a conflict.

"Of course Taiwan must prepare itself. But the greatest threat to Taiwan is that other countries look the other way. And that is precisely what we will not do," Steffen vowed in an interview with DW.

"We will not do anyone any favors who seeks to harm Taiwan. We will keep Taiwan in our sights, and we will work together with Taiwan. This will be to our mutual benefit."

Germany and Taiwan have not changed their positions, he added.

"It is China that has changed, and the United States. There is no alternative to closer cooperation across many, many areas between Germany and Taiwan."

This article was originally written in Chinese