A German parliamentarian delegation from the Bundestag’s Committee on Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid arrived in Taiwan on Sunday morning to begin a four-day visit to exchange views and practices on human rights issues with local officials and scholars.
The delegation led by Peter Heidt of the Free Democratic Party arrived at the Taoyuan International Airport and was welcomed by Deputy Foreign Minister Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) and Germany’s top envoy to Taiwan Jörg Polster.
The other five members of the delegation are Heike Engelhardt and Derya Türk-Nachbaur of the Social Democratic Party, Michael Brand and Carsten Brodesser of the Christian Democratic Union, and Boris Mijatović from the Greens.
The visit is the second by German lawmakers this month, following the Oct. 2-6 visit to Taipei of a seven-member delegation headed by German-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group Chairman Klaus-Peter Willsch.
During its four-day stay, the human rights committee delegation will meet President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and two ministers without portfolio, Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉成) and Huang Chih-ta (黃致達), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said.
The group will also meet with Foreign Minister Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) and National Human Rights Commission Chairperson Chen Chu (陳菊), according to MOFA.
MOFA added that the delegation would visit Taiwan’s National Human Rights Museum and discuss human rights cooperation with local NGOs and think tanks.
The trip is meant to learn firsthand about the “tense security situation” in Taiwan and to express the delegation’s stance that it would not accept “a larger neighbor attacking its smaller neighbor in violation of international law,” Heidt told CNA in Berlin last week.
He also said Germany had to find a way to overcome its overreliance on China economically.
Taiwan is known for its economic prosperity and leading semiconductor industry. “No iPhone in the world would work without Taiwan’s [semiconductor] industry,” Heidt said.
“In other words, Taiwan’s independence is also very important to us for economic reasons,” he added.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel