BERLIN: Two German warships await orders from Berlin, to determine whether next month they will be the first German naval ships in decades to pass through the disputed Taiwan Strait, their commander said.
The US and other countries including Canada, have sent warships into the disputed strait, however, 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 wide strait that divides the two sides and is part of the South China Sea. The United States and Taiwan say the Strait is an international waterway.
“The decision has not been taken yet,” the commander of the naval task group, Rear Admiral Axel Schulz, said in a telephone interview with Western media.
“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,” he added.
Before their possible passage through the strait next month, the frigate Baden-Wuerttemberg and the Frankfurt am Main ship plan to arrive in Tokyo on Tuesday. They will also make stopovers in South Korea and the Philippines.
The German warships will also take part in exercises in the region with France, Japan, Italy, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines Singapore and the United States. Over the last four years, the Chinese military has increased its activities in the narrow strait.
In 2021, a German warship entered through the South China Sea, for the first time in almost 20 years.
