Eviralnews,, the website of German Radio addressed the issue of the escalation of tensions between Germany and China over the passage of German frigates through the Taiwan Strait and wrote: The German frigate “Baden-Württemberg” wants to pass through the Taiwan Strait. A strait that is international waters according to international laws. Meanwhile, the People's Republic of China considers this waterway to be Chinese territory, and foreign naval vessels are not allowed to pass through it without Beijing's permission. Therefore, the approval of the “Baden-Württemberg” crossing is a matter of international diplomacy.
The German frigate “Baden-Württemberg” has been sailing around the world since May. This frigate is accompanied by the German supply ship “Frankfurt am Main”. The aim of the German Federal Navy is to demonstrate the value of “freedom of sea lanes” with this trip. Meanwhile, special attention is paid to the Indian and Pacific Oceans, where tensions between China and its neighbors have increased recently.
The two German Navy ships were recently in South Korea during their mission in the Pacific Ocean, where they were involved in monitoring UN sanctions against North Korea. The next port of call is Manila, the capital of the Philippines. This route actually passes through the Taiwan Strait, which is approximately 200 km wide. However, the leadership of the German frigate did not comment on the exact route plans for “operational security” reasons. Admiral Axel Schulz, head of the operation, said: “So there is no reason to say anything about the path we are traveling.” We use freedom of international waters here.
Meanwhile, the Chinese leadership has criticized Baden-Württemberg's passage through the Taiwan Strait. China rejects the provocations and threats of relevant countries against China's sovereignty and security under the title of freedom of navigation.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China has announced that Taiwan is an inseparable part of China and the waters of the Taiwan Strait are Chinese waters. Beijing respects the navigation rights of all countries in relevant waters in accordance with Chinese law and international law. China views Taiwan as a breakaway province and wants to reunite the island nation, which has been ruled independently for decades, with its mainland.
In the meantime, the main argument of most Western and German foreign and security politicians is that China's claim of power in the Indian and Pacific Oceans should be stopped.
“China is trying to rewrite international rules, both in the Taiwan Strait and in the South China Sea,” says Christoph Hoesgen, head of the Munich Security Conference and a former diplomat. He emphasized: China also violated international laws when it annexed Hong Kong.
He added: Therefore, he advises the German federal government to ignore Beijing's threatening actions and allow the frigate to move through this strait. This former German diplomat also said: Germany must deal with this issue and should not submit to a stronger law. Otherwise, a record is created and followed elsewhere.
Ralf Stegner, a member of the Social Democratic Party of the German Parliament, of course, sees the issue in a different way and considers the war in Ukraine the main reason for the German warship not passing through the Taiwan Strait. Stegner said: “Perhaps the Chinese are the only ones who really have influence in Moscow.” While he favors free navigation in international waters, he also asks if we should stick with it for now. The federal government should not anger the Chinese leadership because it can still help Germany in its conflict with Russia.
In the continuation of this article, the question has been raised whether the German federal government should insist on international laws or is it better to avoid China's anger? The question joins a long list of events that show how challenging relations with China are.
The risk of a trade war also remains, the article continued, as China heavily subsidizes EV production value chains, thus flooding the global market with cheap vehicles. A final decision on whether the EU wants to impose punitive tariffs on Chinese electric cars is still pending.
In this regard, Germany's federal public prosecutor's office recently arrested several people who were said to be spying for China in Germany, one of whom was a former close associate of Maximilian Krah, a politician from the far-right Alternative for Germany party.
Warships of other countries such as the United States of America have also passed through this strait in the past amid Beijing's protests. In early 2022, the German military crossed the Indian and Pacific oceans with the Bayern cruiser. At the time, the federal government explicitly considered the Chinese leadership's claims about the Taiwan Strait, and the ship avoided passing through Taiwan. If the Baden-Württemberg ships through the Taiwan Strait, it will be the first time since 2002 that a German naval ship has chosen this route.
A German weekly newspaper recently reported that despite China's threats and criticism, two German navy ships will soon pass through the strait between China and Taiwan for the first time in 22 years.
According to the weekly “Spiegel”, two German warships are about to cross the Taiwan Strait. It is said that despite China's warnings, this action was planned by the German government. In this way, the German federal government has taken a calm and indifferent approach towards the possible protests of the People's Republic.
The German federal government does not want to announce this plan to cross the strait to the Chinese government. America and other western countries also behaved this way when crossing this strait, and this is to emphasize that this is a completely normal route.
In August, Admiral Axel Schulz, who heads Germany's naval alliance in the Indo-Pacific, told Reuters in an interview that the two warships were still awaiting orders from Berlin.
German Federal Foreign Minister Analena Baerbock had already announced in May that the frigate's passage through the strait was conceivable. The Chinese leadership warned about this issue. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said in May that no country should provoke China and threaten its sovereignty.
Since 2021, Germany has been expanding its military presence in the region due to concerns over China's increasing territorial claims.
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