German petition on forging formal ties with Taiwan reaches threshold

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/10/04
By: Lin Yu-li and Elizabeth Hsu

Berlin, Oct. 4 (CNA) A petition launched in Germany to urge that country to e6stablish diplomatic relations with Taiwan has received enough signatures to go to the parliament for debate.

As of Friday morning, the online petition had been signed by more than 53,000 people, which pushed it past the threshold of 50,000 that was required by Oct. 10 in order for it to be put on the agenda of the Bundestag, according to the parliament's website.

Initiated by someone called Michael Kreuzberg, the petition was submitted to the parliament on May 31 and posted online Sept. 11 to solicit signatures, according to sources close to the Bundestag.

"Since 1949 there has been a second China, namely the Republic of China, or Taiwan," the petition states, calling on the German government to establish formal ties with Taiwan.