this is the 1st female jasmine israel, his liaison, the gender, janet in space exploration. germany's 1st female astronaut has been waiting for years to get her turn. a private initiative is pushing to make it happen. mm. me personally, it's just a dream of who was sad. i've always wanted to see the us from a distance for face starts more changed on d. w. i did other nears aisha coming up to date, when increasing military cooperation with the united states make taiwan more safe or less. so. the island has an ambitious program of dreaming cooperation with us forces. but for china, looking on disapprovingly. does this strategy come with risks?

ah, i british manager, welcome to did up in use asia. glad you could join us. i want the president sighing . one has said taipei will boost military exchanges with the united states at the time when tension with beijing remained high. the cooperation with the united states has picked up base, especially since the start of the ukraine war and renewed concerns over the threat of an invasion from china. always a well traveled route traffic between washington d. c. and ty pay has been especially heavy and recent months. last week, the latest group of us lawmakers visited the island sparking fury in beijing, china, which claims taiwan as part of its territory and his badge to seize it. one day it opposes any official exchanges with the democracy,

can call and talking jackson members ration on semiconductor did last year. nancy pelosi then speaker of the us house of representatives chose to visit taiwan since the roll. her successor, kevin mccarthy, is also reportedly planning a similar trip. washington diplomatically recognizes beijing over taipei, but as the self governing islands, most important, international benefactor and supports. ty, one's right to decide its own future support that's becoming more vocal if there are crisis r t, i was a result of china's aggression in some fashion that would have, i think disastrous consequences to the rural economy recovers wrong world. and that's the message to that a patient has hearing, appreciate that support also increasingly means military backing up to 500. ty, when his troops are heading to the u. s. for training, while the wall street journal reports that the pentagon will deploy up to 200 american trainers to the island in the coming months,

they enter in taiwan and the united states continue to bolster military exchanges and will cooperate even more actively to confront global challenges such as authoritarian, expansionism and climate change. the situation as intensified again since russia's invasion of ukraine. the u. s. believes china's gearing up to offer military support to russia and suggest beijing is emboldened by the russian invasion to step up its efforts to seize taiwan militarily. lincoln cancelled a high stakes beijing trip aimed at easing us china relations after an apparent chinese spy balloons sailed across american skies. the channels between the u. s. and taiwan may be busy, but the communication lines of beijing are in a sorry, state. all right, let's get more context on this from william young in need of news, taipei bureau, william. let's 1st talk loud reports. the taiwan will send around 500 troops to the

u. s. for training later this year. why so many? i think this is the expansion and deepening of the military exchanges. we have seen over the last few years and the 20s government specifically set sending the battalion level all the time. one military to us for the training is not only just to familiar themselves with the tactics, but at the same time they are going to have deepened knowledge about actually how to operate on the battlefield. and also at the same time, learn from the experiences of the americans and getting assistance of actually accumulating a lot more combat ready strategies that they can deploy and use in the case of a potential conflict. and speaking of conflicts, the ukraine conflict, the ukraine boy has been closely followed in type a as an example of potentially how to stand up to

a bigger and more powerful advisory. has it radically altered and impacted taiwanese plans to defend itself against a possible chinese and vision? yes, exactly. at the end of last year, at the time when he government rebuild a, the re con comprehensive reform all the time, once military service, not only switch him reversing the 4 month compulsory military service back to one year. but at the same time enhancing the money. and salaries, the, both the compulsory military service a personnel will earn, but also for professional male 3 members. they will even enhance the monthly salary . and also there are more detailed plans of strengthening and also beating up the training content. because in the past, a lot of the criticism has been the fact that the training itself and the content of the training has been focusing way too much on very limited and non combat

related content in materials. but right now, the new program and the new strategy is focusing more on getting more soldiers ready for combat situations. speaking of this training content, i'm that are also announcements of the us will increase the number of troops it has on the island to train taiwanese forces. and through all of this, i'm wondering if taiwan is clear on where the u. s. stands when it comes to actually defending taiwan in the event of chinese invasion. i think taiwan is getting a very clear signal from washington because during the latest report from wall street journal we learned that the us is really trying to ensure that time one soldier in time one's military house, the kept the ability to really get used to all the new programs and platforms and the weapons that is going to one has purchase from the united states and that's the

main purpose of increasing the number of us troops basting time. one, they are going to be here to train and also get the tony's military up to speed with all of these new military weapons. and at the same time, i think this is just showing the fact that the us wants to want to have the capability to really function and operate these new middle 3 weapons. and at the same time, it is in line with the urge of time one adopting more or a symmetrical capability. and also becoming, you know, turning to one into a porcupine to be able to strengthen its defense. and at the same time, deter china from even taking the 1st step of invasion. and what about china's view william beijing? kelly isn't pleased with all this military cooperation with the united states. but is that a risk? that type is prepared to take i think the twenty's government has been

repeatedly making the 2nd or 3rd time. one is not going to shy away from a conflict when the invasion is been initiated by bait jane. but at the same time, time one is not adopting and beefing up. it's a military budget and also transforming its military training to try to invite a war. rather, it is just a positive and necessary step for time when to def, strengthen its defense capabilities. after years of not making much progress in terms of time, one's a defense capability. and this is a step in the right direction from not only just time one, but also from regional allies like japan and the united states perspective. and they are trying to engage, tie one more in terms of defense dialogues, and at the same time the bilateral exchangers aren't at the military level. ok, william, just stay on the line. let's hear what the opposition in taiwan thinks about these growing. you are sir taiwan exchanges. the following songbirds are from the

opposition. k m t m a. what do it? i wonder james lee, welcome us military assistance and training to help taiwan. but we don't need to make any big deal out of this news. you're look at the numbers, you're hosting the number of us military personnel, 3 or 4 times and tie one from the original 4 days to more than a 100. do you really think you would make a big difference? i don't think so and thought out the usual way. tony grow old is of the u. s. sending more troops and asking as to go to the u. s. for training shows that the situation across the taiwan straits is indeed perilous. if it wasn't the u. s. would not be doing this is why we endanger ours because we've become a porn and the conflict between china in the u. s. law. william, your other son, but there are these sentiments, the oppositions alone or do they represent

a considerable view in taiwan population. i think these views represent a certain faction inside a tony society, even though we are seeing the number impose, suggesting more and more people are willing to fight for time one, if a conflict broke out with china. but at the same time, there are people who i've been talking to in recent months and weeks staying at the end of the day, maintaining peace and stability across the toe and street is still their top priority. and they are concerned about the moves and deepen ties. between the u. s . and taiwan in on the military front. and also the, you know, want these kind of gestures, the news are going to send signals to be jane and how beaching as possibly going to respond. so clearly these are not only, you know, restricted to the opposition politicians that we heard, but at the same time the they are being shared among tony's of population as well.

there are also reports that us, how speaker kevin mccarthy is planning to visit the taiwan. you talked about sending signals to be doing is type by open to such a visit. i think the context of this visit compared to last august visit by the former house speaker, nancy pelosi is very different. we are in a lead up to the presidential election in the january of 2024. so a potential mccarthy visit is going to have a huge impact on domestic politics this year. and how that's going to affect the political landscape here. it is on predicted right now, but at the same time, we know that for the ruling party, it could of play into their advantage. and for the a position party that is going to add a lot more uncertainty in terms of how people are going to feel about the threats coming from china. so i think such a visit is going to have

a huge impact on the election that we're going to see in january 2024. overall, william will growing us. taiwan military exchanges keep taiwan more safe or less. so i think of, we focus on the content and the actual practical side of the exchange. and the purpose of these trainings is going to help taiwan overall to enhance its defense capabilities. and host also helped to push time one to really overall spend more of a budget and resources on the necessary aspects of as military and also national defense. but if you know, we start to let the discussion about the political implication of these trainings and exchanges to dominate the over all dialogue and also the focus of this training, then perhaps it's going to start to create a misleading and also misconception inside

a civil society. so i think it's very important for the government to try to focus the purpose of the training on what is actually going to help tie one. brigham young in taipei, always a pleasure, talking to you. thank you so much for that context and you and that's it. for today on our website, you'll find plenty more on going tensions involved in the us, china, and taiwan. and as emma you can follow us on facebook and twitter. things you beckett more of a bite with people and trucks injured when trying to flee the city center more and more refugees are being turned away. order families, please see the reason for the credit on it is we load it.

administrative people lean, extreme ross getting 200 people in around the world. more than 300000000 people are seeking refuge. yes. why? because no one should have to flee. make up your own mind. d. w. made for mines. ah, ah, i'm steven beardsley in berlin. here's a look at our top stories. the world's biggest mobile taxpayer kicks off as the industry grapples with falling demand and an expensive 5 g build out. we'll go to barcelona for more a year into the war in ukraine. the pressure is growing on

countries believe to be trading with russia's military, including turkey. also on our show, high electricity bills are biting into the bottom lines of companies across germany . help is on the way, but will it be enough? hello and welcome to the show. we begin today with a war in ukraine and western attempts to isolate russia for military related trade . u. s. u sanctions are still falling short for preventing many dual use items from reaching the country. that's a category that includes everything from raw materials to electronics. one path is to turkey. semiconductors and electronic components made in germany top the list of goods. the you won't sell to russia any longer and yet somehow that's exactly where they end up by way of turkey. the country does not support the use sanctions against russia and doesn't abide by them.