Two German warships are awaiting orders to pass through the Taiwan Strait next month, drawing criticism from Beijing.
The frigate Baden-Wuerttemberg and the replenishment ship Frankfurt am Main will pass Japan shortly and then make stops in South Korea and the Philippines.
“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.
He described it as “normal passage” but said he expected “the Chinese navy and potentially the coastguard or maritime militia to escort [the German ships].”
This would be the first time since 2002 that the German navy has passed through the strait, a narrow 110-mile waterway in the South China Sea, which the Chinese communist regime claims as its own despite an international ruling in 2016 that found that its claims were legally baseless.
“China has always been opposed to the undermining of China’s territorial sovereignty and security under the guise of freedom of navigation,” Chinese foreign affairs spokesperson Mao Ning told reporters in Beijing.
Most countries regard the Taiwan Strait as an international waterway. Nearly half of all container ships, including 40 percent of Europe’s foreign trade, pass through this strait.
In 2021, Germany sailed a warship through the South China Sea for the first time in 20 years, and the country recently joined Japan for air drills in the region.
The United States has recently sent naval vessels through the Taiwan Strait, and Germany is set to participate in military exercises in the region with the United States, France, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines.
“Looking the other way, showing no presence in the Indo-Pacific in support of the international rules-based order, that’s not an option for Germany,” he told reporters before the vessels departed. “Presence matters.”
