European lawmakers visit Taiwan in show of solidarity as Scholz heads to Beijing

Europe's difficulties in defining a common approach to China were revealed this week when German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Beijing while lawmakers from European countries and the EU came to Taiwan, the Voice of America reports.

The eight lawmakers — from Belgium, Britain, the Czech Republic, Germany, Kosovo, the Netherlands, Ukraine and the European Parliament — belong to IPAC, the global Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China.

The politicians met with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, who thanked them for strengthening political and economic ties between democratic countries and Taiwan. 

Ukrainian lawmaker Mykola Kniazhytskyi presented Tsai with a traditional shirt known as a vyshyvanka, while Foreign Minister Joseph Wu received a pair of boxing gloves signed by brothers Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko.

"Thank you for passing on the fighting spirit of Ukraine to Taiwan. We stand in solidarity and box against authoritarianism," Wu said in a statement on Twitter, posting photos of himself putting the gloves into action.

IPAC lawmakers said they were committed to "work towards appropriate military and defense cooperation between our countries and Taiwan, while pushing for Taiwan's greater involvement in international institutions and increased bilateral trade”.

As the delegation wound up their trip to Taiwan, Chancellor Scholz was headed to Beijing with some of Germany's business executives. Facing criticism over the trip, Scholz said he 

acknowledged the consolidation of Communist Party rule and power under Chinese leader Xi Jinping, but “it is precisely because 'business as usual’ is no longer an option” that he was traveling to Beijing.

“As China changes, the way that we deal with China must change, too," Scholz wrote.

However, the visit remains controversial even for some members of Scholz's governing coalition, the Voice of America emphasizes.

Speaking to VOA in September, legislator Gyde Jensen, who also participated in the IPAC delegation, said China's treatment of Hong Kong and the Muslim minorities in Xinjiang have "disqualified" Beijing as a "trusted member of our rules-based order, which should alarm [every]one, especially those who conduct business there."