TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The German ships that passed through the Taiwan Strait in September were warned off by Chinese vessels, but China did not engage in any unsafe behavior, officials said on Wednesday (Oct. 2).
On Sept. 13, two German navy ships passed through the Taiwan Strait, marking the first such transit in 22 years. Commander of the German Navy Task Force Rear Admiral Axel Schulz said they sailed into the sensitive waterway to send the message they were in “international waters” and “exercising freedom of navigation.”
The German vessels were subject to scrutiny and frequent radio messages from China, which claims the Taiwan Strait as its internal waters and exclusive economic zone, per Reuters. Schulz said the ships were “shadowed by Chinese surface vessels,” which sent radio messages that the waters were theirs by law.
However, Schulz said the Chinese navy “acted in a safe and professional manner.” “We haven't experienced any dangerous situation whatsoever,” the German task group’s commander said, “although they let us know that we are not really welcome.”
China’s People's Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Theater Command said the German ships were warned and monitored. It said such transits “send the wrong signal” and “undermine peace and stability” in the region.
Taiwan's Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) told German lawmakers on Sept. 16 that Taiwan appreciated the passage of German navy ships through the Taiwan Strait. Lin said the transit demonstrated to the international community that the Taiwan Strait is an international waterway, protected by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Schulz said in an August interview that Germany’s presence in the Indo-Pacific region reflects Berlin’s commitment to its partners and being a responsible member of the rules-based international order. He said the two German ships were on a mission to conduct exercises with allies and ensure freedom of the seas.
In recent months, the US, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada have also sent warships through the Taiwan Strait. They say these actions “exercise the rights of freedom of navigation and overflight beyond the territorial sea of any coastal state.”
