Mixed German reactions to Pelosi's trip to Taiwan

"There is currently more than enough international tension due to the Russian war of aggression," said the CDU politician.

Mixed German reactions to Pelosi's trip to Taiwan

"There is currently more than enough international tension due to the Russian war of aggression," said the CDU politician. "In this situation, Pelosi's visit has a purely symbolic meaning, which China inevitably feels provoked by."

On the other hand, the foreign policy spokesman for the Union faction, Jürgen Hardt (CDU), said he had "nothing to criticize" about the trip by the chairmen of the US House of Representatives. "We cannot avoid conflict with China over key issues. Taiwan is one of those issues."

The visit draws attention to the urgent need for a European-American strategy on how to deal with the Chinese challenge, Hardt said. "We still agree far too little on this."

The foreign policy spokesman for the FDP parliamentary group, Ulrich Lechte, described it as "very welcome that Nancy Pelosi was not impressed by Beijing's attempts at intimidation". The party friend of US President Joe Biden has shown attitude. Open support for democratic Taiwan is "essential" in view of China's threatening gestures.

"It would be worth considering whether a high-ranking representative of Germany could also visit," said Lechte. "A member of the federal government in Taipei - why not?!"

The chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Bundestag, Michael Roth (SPD), told the newspapers of Mediengruppe Bayern that Pelosi's visit was "neither aggressive nor provocative". "Otherwise the government in Taipei would not have issued an invitation either, because the Taiwanese know best what threatens their interests and security."

Meanwhile, FDP parliamentary group leader Alexander Graf Lambsdorff warned of an escalation of the conflict with China. "The strong choice of words by the Beijing leadership shows their nervousness in view of the forthcoming party congress of the Communist Party," the politician told the newspapers of the editorial network Germany. "But an escalation of the conflict can neither be in the interests of the economically badly battered People's Republic nor in the interests of the West."

Pelosi landed in Taiwan's capital Taipei on Tuesday. She is the highest-ranking US official to visit Taiwan in 25 years. The government in Beijing, which sees Taiwan as a breakaway province, reacted angrily to the visit and announced "targeted military action" in response. A series of military maneuvers in waters around Taiwan is planned for Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Pelosi continued her visit to the island on Wednesday - and emphasized that her delegation had come "in peace for the region". "We come to Taiwan in friendship, we come in peace for the region," she said in a meeting with Taiwanese Parliament Vice President Tsai Chi-chang.