President You meets with Dr. Jörg Polster, the new Director General of the German Institute Taipei.

Legislative Yuan President You Si-kun: Congratulations to the new German government and thanks for the inclusion of Taiwan-friendly language in the coalition agreement

Legislative Yuan President You Si-kun, accompanied by Secretary General Lin Jih-Jia, Consultant Hung Tzu-Yung, and Secretariat Director Maggie Wu, received Dr. Jörg Polster, the new Director General of the German Institute Taipei, this morning.

In his remarks, President You praised Director Polster for his extensive diplomatic experience and his career as a diplomat, mentioning that Director General Polster is married to a Taiwanese and is therefore a son of Taiwan. He then congratulated the new German government, saying he believes under the leadership of Olaf Scholz, Germany will become more prosperous. He also took the opportunity to thank the German government for mentioning Taiwan for a second time in its Coalition Agreement. This is the first time Germany has mentioned Taiwan in such a document, including it in a pro-Taiwan clause. He also expressed thanks to Germany for voting yes on October 20 when the EU reviewed the EU-Taiwan Political Relations and Cooperation report which was passed with an overwhelming 580 yes votes.

President You mentioned that he has visited Germany twice. He was impressed by the country’s beautiful scenery and advanced technology. When working for the Yilan County government, he visited Germany to study thermal power plants and learned that Germany has very advanced equipment to deal with the pollution caused. He later used this knowledge in working in the Taiwan government. When Chairman of the Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation, he purchased Siemens carriages made in German factories to serve on the Taipei Metro.

In his speech, Director General Polster expressed gratitude to the President for taking the time to meet with him and for giving Germany and Taiwan the opportunity to exchange views. He mentioned that the new German government had just taken office and that he believes there will be new developments in bilateral relations. He would, he said, follow closely work by the new members of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Bundestag and looked forward to the establishment of a parliamentary friendship group to promote bilateral relations, as he believes this is the best way to share ideas.