"der spiegel" reporter interviewed

At work today I interviewed by phone Stefan Simons, the Asia editor at the foreign desk of Der Spiegel, the German newsmagazine. Their website can be accessed at www.spiegel.de. (On an unrelated note, the terrorist group that claimed responsibility for the recent London bombings took credit for the attacks by writing to Der Spiegel).

I interviewed Mr. Simons for an article about German attitudes towards Taiwan that will be published in the DPP's small English-language newsletter. Tragically, as a result of my chronic ridiculiousness, I neglected to turn on the tape recorder I was using to record the interview until the last few questions. Unfortunately I think a lot of the best questions were at the beginning of the interview, and now they're lost forever. But I think the questions I did take down answers to are pretty interesting. I copied the transcript of what I did record below.
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INTERVIEW: HENRY VAN WAGENBERG (TAIPEI), STEFAN SIMONS, (HAMBURG)

H: Do you think that they [Germans] would see the military aid the U.S. gives to Taiwan as being dangerous or unwise in the sense that it could potentially upset the status quo? How do Germans, those who do know about it, how do they react to the U.S. military aid to Taiwan?

Mr. Simons: ... I think the political and military threat of Beijing to Taiwan, i think that's quite obvious even if people in Germany don't know exactly about the numbers or figures attached to it. On the other hand, where people are more reluctant to support Taiwan's cause is when the independence claim is used a political gimmick in election campaigns as was the case in the last few years, I think that -- Chen Shui-bian's very obvious, well rumors, in terms of political independence, I think very much in the United States was viewed as a gimmick, and I think that was seen [by Germans] as rocking the boat in the Taiwan straits.

H: Do you personally think that Europe should be more supportive of Taiwan as a young democracy? What's your personal opinion about Europe's relationship to Taiwan? Should it be closer to Taiwan, or is it good the way it is?

Mr. Simons: Well personally, I would think that the Europeans as a whole could be a lot more outspoken in their support of Taiwan, because it's one of the few countries in Southeast Asia which already have a quite brilliant historical example of military dictactorship to full-fledged democracy, that alone I think deserves more support, more outspoken position-taking on the side of the Europeans, but i think everything is overshadowed by the economic bermuda triangle that kind of sucks in the political good will. Personally as I say it would be much better if there was more of an equidistance, but sure enough Beijing cannot be left aside, it certainly has to be treated with the due respect it can demand as an upcoming superpower. On the other I don't think that should go to the detriment of Taiwan.

H: Do you personally think that the U.S.'s military support of Taiwan is dangerous or unwise, or should be rethought?

Mr. Simons: No. I think that the US under the current administration, Bush 2, has not changed its political stance, in a way it's going back to the equidistance. Politically it has reiterated the Shanghai comminique position, and all it does now is underline the committment with military hardware. The military balance was certainly tilting towards Beijing; I think what the Americans do is a reaction to the perceived threat, rather than venturing into dangerous territory by itself.

H: Ok. Just one last question. As a journalist, do you think that when articles are published about Taiwan, vs. articles about China, do you think that an article about Taiwan attracts a lot less attention than China? Is Taiwan sort of less on the radar screen for Germans?

Mr. Simons: Yes of course. We're talking about two different countries, with two different economies -- 1.3 billion people on the move to become the second superpower, in 20-25 years, of course will command much more public, journalistic attention. absolutely, there's no doubt about it. And that Taiwan compared to China will see its light in the public eye be diminished. I think that's only normal.

H: O.k., alright, well thank you very much.

Mr. Simons: If there's anything else, just let me know.