《TAIPEI TIMES》 German petition seeks official Taiwan ties

HYPOCRISY? The petition asks why Germany cannot recognize ‘two Chinas,’ even though the UN recognized two German states and treats the two Koreas equally

By Lu Yi-hsuan and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writer

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A petition calling on the German government to establish formal ties with Taiwan was submitted to the Bundestag on Wednesday last week by a group of Germans.

The petition asks the Bundestag to ask the German Cabinet to establish formal relations with the Republic of China （Taiwan）.

It says that as a country that “disregards human rights, blocks entire ethnic groups into ‘re-education camps,’ builds a unique surveillance and censorship machine, brutally defies the concerns of other states in territorial conflicts in Southeast Asia and violates international law,” China should not represent democratic Taiwan.

If the petition receives 50,000 signatures before its expiry on Oct. 9, the Bundestag is required to discuss it.

As the world marks the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, China continues to oppress its people, but the German government nevertheless engages in diplomacy and trade with China, the petition says.

The petition says denying Taiwan UN membership has no international legal basis.

“The Cairo Declaration of 1943, in which the Allies promised China the return of Taiwan after the war, was not binding under international law,” it says.

The petition asks why Germany cannot recognize “two Chinas,” even though the UN recognized two German states for decades, and treats North and South Korea equally.

Unlike China, Taiwan has democratized, but despite this, it is not formally recognized by Germany, it says.

“This is incomprehensible to us given the massive violations of international and human rights by the [People’s Republic of China] described above. We therefore demand diplomatic recognition of the Republic of China,” it says.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES