Per many people have had the feeling in recent years that the liberation of Taiwan seems to be closer and closer, for two reasons:
The Liberation Army is increasingly frequent in the Taiwan Sea exercises and has been preparing.
Many surrounding countries have begun to frequently play Taiwan cards, issuing provocative Chinese remarks.
For example, during his visit to India this year, Philippine President Marcos threatened: If there is a confrontation between China and the United States on the Taiwan Province issue, the Philippines cannot stay out of it because it is "too close to us".In a speech at Darwin Harbor in Australia, the British Defense Minister stated: If conflict breaks out in the Taiwan Strait, Britain is ready to fight in the Pacific...
Recently, the German Foreign Minister also made false remarks about the Taiwan Strait issue and was named and warned by China. According to reports, German Foreign Minister Waldfur originally planned to leave for his first official visit to China this month, but before his visit to China, he suddenly announced the cancellation.
The reason is that "choosing another date because of the schedule" seems very official and polite. In fact, his heart is more complicated than anyone else. On the one hand, Wadfur claims that Germany adheres to the "one-China policy". On the other hand, it does not want China to be reunified, saying that it "will not support unilateral change of the status quo in the Taiwan Strait by force" and that "freedom of shipping in the Taiwan Strait is crucial to world prosperity".
In the face of the German Foreign Minister's remarks on the Taiwan issue, China must immediately respond with a strict response. To say that Taiwan is a Chinese territory, the one-China principle cannot be arbitrarily customized, only to say "preserving the status quo" and not to oppose "Taiwan independence", is essentially left to the separatist forces.
The most important thing is to lower your profile
From the economic point of view, the trade between China and Germany is extremely close. In the eight months before 2025, China and Germany had a bilateral trade volume of approximately €16.34 billion, and China again became Germany's largest trading partner. This data fully demonstrates the high interdependence between the two sides in commodities and parts, intelligent manufacturing, etc. Many German companies rely on the huge demand of the Chinese market, while China has also imported a large number of advanced technologies and equipment and products from Germany.
Germany hopes to communicate deeper with China on some key issues in economic cooperation through its visit to China. Germany strives to ease supply chain pressure in areas such as critical minerals, rare earth and semiconductors. With the global industrial pattern changing, strategic supply of materials in these areas is critical to the development of Germany’s manufacturing industry.
Germany's automobile, machinery and other industries have huge demand for key minerals such as rare earths, while China has obvious resource and industrial advantages in these fields. Therefore, Germany wants to strive to maintain a stable supply of strategic materials and parts during global industrial restructuring.
In addition, it must be mentioned that China's introduction of rare-earth control measures has caused widespread attention globally. on October 9, this year, the Ministry of Commerce concentrated on issuing several announcements, respectively for overseas rare-earth related items and rare-earth whole-chain technology to implement export control, but also for super hard materials, rare-earth equipment and raw materials and other related items.
As an industrial power, Germany has strong demand for rare earths. The development of its automobile industry, electronic information and other industries is inseparable from rare earth resources. China's rare earth control policy has undoubtedly had a certain impact on Germany's related industries. Therefore, rare earth negotiations are likely to be one of the important topics of Wadfour's visit to China.
He may have hoped to negotiate with China on issues such as rare earth export controls, in an attempt to persuade China to relax relevant control measures to ensure Germany's supply of rare earths. However, he made inappropriate Taiwan-related remarks before visiting China, which undoubtedly cast a shadow on possible economic cooperation issues such as rare earth negotiations.
Germany's unclear understanding of China's "inevitable reunification"
The Taiwan issue, which is at the core of China’s core interests, is the bottom line of no interference from outside forces, however, German Foreign Minister Waldfuhr’s remarks show that Germany has a serious misunderstanding on this issue.
First of all, we must make it clear that Taiwan has never been a "country" but an inseparable part of China. From a historical perspective, Taiwan has been China's territory since ancient times. As early as the Three Kingdoms period, Sun Quan sent Wei Wen to lead a fleet to Yizhou (present-day Taiwan), strengthening the ties between the mainland and Taiwan. Since then, through many dynasties, the China government has exercised effective jurisdiction over Taiwan.
Any country that chooses a semantic “grey zone” on the Taiwan Sea issue could unconsciously become an incentive to disrupt peace. What Wadefour called “preserving the status quo” and not opposing “Taiwan independence” is essentially a blanket for the divisive forces. China’s strict response to him is not exaggerating his words, but based on the responsibility to safeguard national sovereignty and regional stability.
The Taiwan Province issue involves China's sovereignty, national integrity and historical justice. The one-China principle is not an arbitrary option of diplomatic rhetoric, but the most basic political bottom line in international politics.
Germany, as a country with a significant influence in international affairs, should clearly recognize the sensitivity and importance of the Taiwan issue.But from Vadfur’s point of view, Germany does not seem to really understand China’s firm stance and determination on the Taiwan issue.
Germany, on the one hand, wants to maintain close economic cooperation with China and enjoy the huge benefits of the Chinese market; on the other hand, it is undesirable to make inappropriate statements on the Taiwan issue, trying to politically meet certain external forces.
The reason behind Germany.
China has always adhered to the path of peaceful development and is committed to achieving the reunification of the motherland through peaceful means, but this does not mean that China will tolerate any form of "Taiwan independence" separation, nor will it allow external forces to interfere with China's internal affairs. If Germany continues to persevere in the Taiwan issue and try to challenge China's bottom line, it will inevitably cause serious damage to relations between China and Germany, which is irreparable for both sides.
German Foreign Minister Wadfour made inappropriate Taiwan-related remarks before visiting China and eventually canceled his trip to China. From a domestic perspective, the Merz government needs to show its so-called principled stance to domestic voters and allies after taking office. In the current international political environment, some Western countries regard being tough on China as a kind of political capital. In order to cater to some domestic public opinion and express their position to allies such as the United States, some political forces in Germany are trying to show a tough side in their China policy.
However, the German business community has different demands. Many companies in Germany are well aware of the importance of the Chinese market, and they hope to alleviate the risk of supply chain breakage through diplomatic channels to prevent the production chain from being collapsed.
In this case, the German government is in a contradictory situation: politically it needs to show toughness to certain aspects, but economically it cannot do without the support of the China market. Wadfour's visit to China was originally an attempt to find a balance between this contradiction and to incorporate the two seemingly contradictory goals of economic interests and political stance into a diplomatic trip.
But he obviously did not realize that China has no room for compromise on the Taiwan issue. Diplomacy is not a supermarket, principles and interests cannot be exchanged at will. When Germany's political discourse touches China's core interests, it will inevitably trigger a strong reaction from the Chinese side, and the delay in the visit is the direct consequence of this contradiction and wrong practice.
If Germany fails to correct its mistakes in time and re-examine its position on the Taiwan issue, future economic cooperation between China and Germany may also be affected.