A cross-party delegation of German lawmakers arrived in Taipei on Sunday amid growing tensions with China in the region.

It is the first official delegation from Germany to visit Taiwan since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in 2019, according to Taiwan’s foreign ministry.

On arrival at Taoyuan International Airport, Taiwan’s Vice Foreign Minister Alexander Tah-ray Yui welcomed the group from the Berlin-Taipei parliamentary friendship group in the German Bundestag. The group is expected to stay until Thursday.

Chairman Klaus-Peter Willsch and five other German lawmakers will meet with President Tsai Ing-wen, Vice President Lai Ching-te, Legislative Speaker You Si-kun, Foreign Minister Joseph Wu, Taiwanese lawmakers, and representatives from institutions focusing on security.

The delegation will also visit a science park in southern Taiwan, a move to boost bilateral trade in high-tech areas and the safety of supply chains.

Jhy-Wey Shieh, Taiwan’s Representative to Germany, travelled with the German delegation from Frankfurt back to Taipei.

The visit demonstrates that Germany’s backing for Taiwan enjoys cross-party support, according to Taiwan’s foreign ministry.

It is the second delegation to visit from a major European country since U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taipei in early August, which was followed by China’s large-scale manoeuvres and military drills around Taiwan.

A French delegation of lawmakers visited Taiwan in early September.

Taiwan’s foreign ministry on Sunday released a photo of the visiting German delegation on Twitter, stressing that “Time & distance don’t dim friendship!”

In Beijing, China protested the visit of the German delegation to Taipei, stressing that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory.

The Chinese government urged German lawmakers to abide by the ‘One China’ principle and immediately stop their interactions with the “Taiwan independence” separatist forces, the Spokesperson’s Office of China’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

“China will take necessary measures to resolutely protect national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the statement said.

Taiwan has had an independent government since 1949, but China considers the democratic island part of its territory and opposes any form of official contacts between Taiwan and other countries.

(dpa/NAN)