Two German warships are currently sailing through the Taiwan Strait, despite objections from Beijing. This marks the first time in 22 years that German warships have passed through these disputed waters between China and Taiwan. German Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius confirmed this transit during a press conference on September 13, stating that the frigate Baden-Wuerttemberg and supply ship Frankfurt am Main were en route to the Taiwan Strait. Pistorius emphasized that “international waters are international waters” and that this passage is in accordance with international laws.
Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense has also confirmed the presence of these German warships in the Taiwan Strait on September 13. The minister stated that Taiwan’s military closely monitored their activities both in the air and water surrounding Taiwan during their transit earlier that day.
Currently, these German warships are participating in exercises in the Indo-Pacific region alongside navies from France, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, and the United States. They have already visited Japan and South Korea as part of their mission.
The Taiwan Strait serves as a crucial international maritime route through which approximately half of global container ships pass. While freedom of navigation is protected under international law, China claims jurisdiction over this strait as part of its exclusive economic zone and sovereignty over Taiwan. However, Taiwan strongly objects to China’s sovereignty claims and asserts that only its people can determine their own future.
In recent years, China’s military has frequently conducted military drills with aircraft and warships in the vicinity of the Taiwan Strait to exert pressure on Taipei. Despite concerns about operational safety expressed by Rear Adm. Axel Schulz while docked at Incheon port in South Korea on September 6th., Germany remains committed to reinforcing freedom of navigation for prosperous economies across Southeast Asia to Europe and America.
Germany’s decision to sail through these disputed waters comes at a time when tensions between Western countries such as Germany and China continue to rise due to increased military presence by Western nations like Germany within Indo-Pacific regions where both countries maintain important trading partnerships with Germany being particularly friendly towards China among European Union (EU) member states.
This move by Germany can be seen as a political statement rather than direct military involvement should conflict arise between China-Taiwan or even US-China relations given NATO’s Washington Declaration expressing concern for security within Indo-Pacific regions leading them taking specific actions involving themselves further into affairs there which could potentially impact EU-China relations increasing potential for conflict between EU-China according Chung Chih-tung an assistant research fellow at Institute for National Defense Security Research who spoke with The Epoch Times recently regarding NATO’s involvement within Indo-Pacific security matters
