Today falls on the "Reunification Day of Germany", the German Association in Taiwan resumes its National Day Gala. German Representative in Taiwan Xu Youge (left), Foreign Minister Wu Zhaoxie (middle) and Chairman of the German Parliamentary Friends-Taiwan Group Welsch (right) toasted together.

(Photo by reporter Lu Yixuan)

[Reporter Lu Yixuan/Taipei Report] Today falls on the "German Reunification Day", the German Association in Taiwan resumes holding the National Day Gala. This is the first time that Jörg Polster, the German representative to Taiwan who has been in Taiwan for more than a year, has held a physical National Day event.

Xu Youge mentioned in his speech that the world situation is "like a dark cloud floating over", and if peace cannot be maintained, it will suffer catastrophic consequences.

He reiterated his commitment, "We will stand together and support each other. We will face challenges while seizing the opportunities ahead. We are confident that there will be more room for growth in the bilateral relationship in the future, and beyond the level of our interaction in the past." "

October 3 is Germany's National Day, which originated from the reunification of East and West Germany in 1990.

Germany is holding a National Day Gala in Taipei tonight. Foreign Minister Wu Zhaoxie, Minister of Justice Cai Qingxiang and more than 100 people including diplomatic envoys, business and academic circles from many countries attended the event to congratulate.

The party was also performed by the Laxian choir, singing "The world needs peace".

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In his speech, Xu Youge praised Taiwan's methodical handling of the epidemic crisis. He also mentioned that the German-Taiwan relationship has remained resilient despite the difficult circumstances. Bilateral economic cooperation has performed well. In 2021, the total bilateral trade volume will exceed 20 billion US dollars, setting a new record.

In addition, there are currently 2,500 Taiwanese students studying in Germany. "We are proud of this number."

Xu Youge also said that the restart of border measures to promote bilateral exchanges, the first is the exchange of parliamentary visits, this summer, many Taiwanese legislators visited Germany, and German parliamentarians are visiting Taiwan at the moment.

Xu Youge then changed the topic and said, however, when the epidemic seems to be slowing down, a bigger situation is imminent, "like a dark cloud floating over", Europe is facing a military confrontation not seen in decades, and the war continues to burn, causing people to lose their lives. and massive destruction and destruction.

While we in Europe are seriously concerned about this development, Taiwan is also being watched very closely, especially after the August military exercises, "there is a development that has begun, and we cannot foresee the consequences of that."

Xu Youge stressed that if the peace cannot be maintained, then we will be threatened with catastrophic consequences.

In this context, we reaffirm our commitment: "We will stand together and support each other. We will face challenges and seize the opportunities ahead. We are confident that there will be more room for growth in the bilateral relationship than ever before. The level of our interaction.”

In his speech, Wu Zhaoxie said that Taiwan-Germany relations have continued to expand in recent years, with close cooperation in the fields of information and communication, renewable energy and biotechnology.

Last year, Taiwan-Germany trade broke through a record high of US$20 billion for the first time. EVA Air will start the Taipei-Munich route in early November. It is hoped that the bilateral interaction and exchanges will continue to grow substantially in the future.

Wu Zhaoxie paid special tribute to the German parliamentary delegation who also attended the meeting, pointing out that their visit after the Chinese military exercise especially showed their unwavering support for Taiwan.

Wu Zhaoxie also thanked the German government for mentioning the importance of Taiwan's international participation in the governing program, and expressed concern about the security of the Taiwan Strait.

Klaus-Peter Willsch, chairman of the German Parliamentary Friendship Group, was invited to give a speech on stage. He shared that this was his 32nd personal participation in activities related to the "German Reunification Day". He believed that the divided Germany should be reunified as his political enlightenment. , this year is very special is to come to Taipei with the Congress delegation.

The lives of 3 of the 6 members of the delegation are related to the reunification of Germany. For example, Ms. Bude, a member of the Social Democratic Party, is from East Germany and participated in the protests that year. She also contributed to the fall of the Berlin Wall; Senator Rey used to live in the West. Germany, moved to East Germany after reunification and became a politician in East Germany. His own life is also related to East Germany.