Two German warships are awaiting orders from Berlin to determine whether they would be the first German naval vessels in decades to pass through the Taiwan Strait next month, at the risk of stoking tensions with Beijing, a German commander said.
While the US and other nations, including Canada, have sent warships through the narrow strait in recent weeks, it would be the German navy’s first passage through the Strait since 2002.
China claims sovereignty over Taiwan, and says it has jurisdiction over the nearly 180km waterway that divides the two sides.
Photo: Reuters
Taiwan strongly objects to these claims, saying only its people can decide their future and that the Taiwan Strait is an international waterway.
“The decision has not been made yet,” Rear Admiral Axel Schulz told Reuters, adding that the weather would play a role.
“We are showing our flag here to demonstrate that we stand by our partners and friends, our commitment to the rules-based order, the peaceful solution of territorial conflicts and free and secure shipping lanes,” Schulz said.
The German frigate Baden-Wuerttemberg and the replenishment ship Frankfurt am Main plan to call in Tokyo today. They would also make stops in South Korea and the Philippines. They are to take part in exercises in the region with France, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines and the US.
Sailings through the waterway by foreign warships, especially US warships, are regularly condemned by Beijing, which says such missions “undermine peace and stability” in the region.
Germany, for whom China and Taiwan are major trade partners, has joined other Western nations in expanding its military presence in the region, as their alarm has grown over Beijing’s territorial ambitions.
A German warship in 2021 sailed through the South China Sea for the first time in almost 20 years.
Luftwaffe, the aerial warfare branch of the German armed forces, last month deployed fighter jets to Japan for the first joint drills there.
Schulz said he did not have specific security measures should the warships under his command cross the Taiwan Strait, calling it a “normal passage” similar to sailing through the English Channel or the North Sea.
However, he anticipates the passage would be closely monitored.
“I expect the Chinese navy and potentially the coast guard or maritime militia to escort us,” Schulz said, adding that it was common practice.
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