(Central News Agency reporter Lin Shangying, Berlin, 14th) The 5th "Berlin Taiwan Conference" was held from 12th to 13th. American scholar Glacier pointed out at the meeting that China is systematically isolating Taiwan internationally through a variety of means. Former Bloomberg reporter in Taiwan, He Guisen, also pointed out from his own experience as an example that Bloomberg's operating license in China was threatened because he referred to Taiwan as a "country" in his reports.
The fifth "Berlin Taiwan Conference" was held this week at the Berlin National Library. This year's theme is "Focus on Taiwan." Former President Tsai Ing-wen delivered a speech through a pre-recorded video, sharing the vitality of Taiwan's civil society; Frank Hartmann, Director General of the Asia-Pacific Department of the German Foreign Ministry, also attended the speech.
The first panel discussion was titled "Taiwan's Key Role in the World" and invited Bonnie Glaser, director of the Indo-Pacific Program of the German Marshall Fund (GMF), Chris Horton, a senior American correspondent in Taiwan, Luke de Pulford, CEO of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China Policy (IPAC), and Johannes Volkmann, a German parliamentarian, to discuss Taiwan's international situation from the perspectives of diplomacy, media, Congress, and economics.
Former Bloomberg Taiwan correspondent Ho Guisen, who published a book on Taiwan last year called "Ghost Nation", pointed out that China has long influenced international media through political and commercial pressure. Citing his own experience as an example, he said that he once referred to Taiwan as a "country" in a report on Taiwan-US maritime patrol cooperation. This was subsequently strongly protested by Beijing, and Bloomberg's operating license in China was even threatened.
He Guisen said that the international media often describes Taiwan with terms such as "autonomous island" and "island democracy", but does not refer to the United Kingdom or Australia in the same way. He believes that these terms downplay Taiwan's national status and also reflect China's influence on international news reports.
Glaser further explained that China is "systematically isolating" Taiwan. Through its diplomatic influence, some countries have restricted the use of relevant airspace by Taiwanese flights, refused to recognize Taiwanese passports, prevented Taiwanese representatives from participating in international meetings, and even pressured companies to change the name of Taiwan, comprehensively restricting Taiwan's international activity space.
She criticized that the international community's countermeasures against China's pressure are still insufficient, and suggested that the Group of Seven Major Industrial Countries (G7) establish a joint response mechanism and set up a corporate confidential reporting channel to assist countries and companies that are under China's political and commercial pressure.
Talking about the impact of the U.S. midterm election results on Taiwan policy, Glacier said that President Trump may be subject to certain constraints due to changes in the political landscape of Congress, but the executive branch still holds considerable power, especially in terms of tariff policy and interaction with Chinese President Xi Jinping. She bluntly said that some of Trump's past remarks related to Taiwan are quite worrying.
German Member of Parliament Folkmann focused on the economic interests of his constituency, emphasizing that peace across the Taiwan Strait is closely related to German industry and people's lives. He cited a study recently heard by the German Parliament that pointed out that if a military conflict breaks out in the Taiwan Strait, Europe's gross domestic product (GDP) may shrink by 8% to 10%, and the impact will even exceed the global financial crisis and the COVID-19 epidemic.
The meeting was a lively exchange. The representative office in Germany pointed out that a total of 7 seminars were held over the two days, covering topics such as Taiwan’s international role, local elections, economic, trade and scientific and technological cooperation, inter-school exchanges, the resilience of society as a whole, and the lives of Taiwanese people living in Germany. The seminar attracted about 200 people from more than 10 countries, including politicians, scholars, business circles and civil society representatives who enthusiastically participated.
