German Delegation Arrives in Taiwan on 5-Day Visit: Taiwan

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - A delegation of German lawmakers headed by Klaus-Peter Willsch, Chairman of the Germany-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group, has arrived in Taiwan on a five-day visit for the first time since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019, the island's foreign ministry said on Sunday.

"Vice Minister Yui warmly welcomed the 1st post-epidemic German delegation. We wish Bundestag's Taiwan friendship group chair Klaus-Peter Willsch & 5 deputy chairs from their respective parties a fruitful 5-day visit. Time & distance don't dim friendship!," the ministry tweeted.

The delegation is set to hold meetings with Taiwanese leader Tsai Ing-wen and Vice President Lai Ching-te as well as to visit the Legislative Yuan (the island's highest lawmaking body) along with analytic centers and security organizations.

On Thursday, the ministry said that the German delegation's trip is particularly important in the light of tensions around Taiwan after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's controversial visit in early August.

China condemned Pelosi's trip, which it regarded as a gesture of support for separatism, and launched large-scale military exercises in the vicinity of Taiwan. Several countries have sent their delegations to the island since then, further increasing tensions in the Taiwan Strait.

Taiwan has been governed independently from mainland China since 1949. Beijing views the island as its province, while Taiwan — a territory with its own elected government — maintains that it is an autonomous country but stops short of declaring independence. Beijing opposes any official contacts by foreign states with Taipei and considers Chinese sovereignty over the island indisputable.