Germany’s plan to send naval vessels through the Taiwan Strait this month “is a legally compliant transit,” Bundestag member Michael Roth said on Monday, criticizing China for objecting.
“We are reinforcing the freedom of navigation and stability in a strategically important region for us,” Roth wrote on X.
“A transit is not a provocation,” said Roth, who chairs the German parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee. “We stand for peace and security in the Taiwan Strait and oppose any unilateral and violent changes to the status quo by China. It is a misconception to think that leniency will lead China to reconsider.”
Photo: Reuters
German weekly news magazine Der Spiegel reported that the Baden-Wurttemberg frigate and the Frankfurt am Main supply ship are to transit the Taiwan Strait on their way from South Korea to Jakarta in the middle of this month.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday said that while it respects other nations’ rights to navigate according to Chinese law and international frameworks such as the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, it opposes actions that “provoke and endanger China’s sovereignty and security under the pretext of ‘freedom of navigation.’”
Roth urged the German government and media to reject Beijing’s narrative.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) views unification with Taiwan as “his historical mission,” Roth said, adding that “China is tightening its grip and changing the status quo daily.”
“It is in our core interest to prevent any war in or blockade of Taiwan,” he said.
“A military conflict in the Taiwan Strait would have catastrophic consequences for Germany and the global economy, potentially even worse than the COVID-19 pandemic,” he added.
“We must do everything possible to prevent any Chinese escalation,” he said. “Therefore, we should follow the example of our Dutch and Canadian partners, who have already sent ships through the Taiwan Strait this year.”
He also expressed regret that Taiwan is often discussed in Germany only in the context of war and peace.
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