German party abandons ‘one China’ stand ahead of Sep’21 general elections

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Christian Wolfgang Lindner is a German politician, member of the Bundestag, and leader of the liberal Free Democratic Party of Germany. (Photo courtesy: DW)

(TibetanReview.net, May20’21) – Beijing appears to have lost a “one China” policy friend after Germany’s Free Democratic Party (FDP) decided to remove this stand from its campaign documents ahead of national elections to be held on Sep 26. Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has welcomed the move, reported taiwannews.com.tw May 20.

Previously, India had stopped including the “one China” policy in joint declarations in meetings between the leaders of the two sides.

The report cited MOFA Spokesperson Joanne Ou as saying the FDP had voted to remove all language pertaining to the “one China” policy ahead of Germany’s September general elections. She has called the move a friendly and groundbreaking gesture.

The removal of the “one China” policy affirms Taiwan’s democracy and supports the Taiwanese people’s freedom to choose their own political future, she has said.

Calling it a “core issue,” China requires all countries it has diplomatic relations with to adopt the “One China” policy, which seeks to assert that there is only one sovereign state under the name China.

Beijing has weaponised the “one China policy” to block Taiwan’s membership and full participation in international organisations and events, noted the ANI May 19.

Earlier, FDP members had raised a proposal to remove language relating to the “one China” policy from the party’s platform, saying it was misleading and gave China’s leaders an excuse to suppress Beijing’s opponents in Hong Kong, eliminate ethnic minorities in Xinjiang and occupy Taiwan by force.

The proposal was approved in a vote by party members.

The FDP has now affirmed Taiwan’s democracy and freedom, saying it offers an alternative to China’s dictatorship.

The party has said it supports Taiwan’s acceptance into international organisations and condemned China’s intimidation of the nation, adding that the party recommends Germany and the EU to expand their engagement with Taiwan.

Years later, India stopped including the “one China” policy in joint declarations in meetings with their top leaders because of Beijing’s hostile stand on its state of Arunachal Pradesh and Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir.

While India has not rejected the “one China” policy altogether, relations between the two countries have only worsened in recent years due to China’s brazen and even violent frequent territorial aggressions across occupied Tibet’s border, its support for Pakistan-based anti-India terrorists at the UN, and so forth. India has also been increasing its ties with Taiwan in recent years.

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