China cooperation must not come at price of democracy -German finance minister

China cooperation must not come at price of democracy -German finance minister

World

Stark-Watzinger was this week the first German minister to make a trip to Taiwan.

BERLIN, (Reuters) - A creeping loss of democracy and freedom worldwide must not be the price for cooperating with China, said German Finance Minister Christian Lindner said in a tweet on Wednesday.

That is why German Education Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger's engagement on the issue deserves respect, he added, with a link to an announcement about the opening of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom's hub in Taipei.

Stark-Watzinger was this week the first German minister to make a trip to Taiwan, which China views as its own territory, in 26 years, in a visit Beijing has condemned as "vile."