German warships a ‘security risk’ – Chinese military

The passage of two German Navy ships through the Taiwan Strait on Friday “increased security risks” in the region, the Chinese military has said. The Foreign Ministry in Beijing accused Berlin of staging a “provocation” and violating the One-China policy.

Taiwan has been de facto self-governing since 1949, when the Nationalist forces lost the Chinese Civil War to the Communists and fled to the island. Taiwan is currently recognized as a sovereign nation by only 12 countries in the world. While adhering on paper to the One-China policy, in which the government in Beijing is the sole ruling authority over Chinese territories, the US has for decades maintained unofficial relations with and supported Taipei.

China insists that Taiwan is an inalienable part of its territory, with President Xi Jinping warning that Beijing could resort to military force to regain control over the island.

In a post on X on Friday, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry confirmed that a “German naval frigate and a supply ship each sailed through the Taiwan Strait from north to south today.”

The passage of the Baden-Wuerttemberg frigate and the Frankfurt am Main replenishment ship was the first of its kind in 22 years.

A spokesman for the People’s Liberation Army Eastern Theater Command, Senior Captain Li Xi, said that the “actions of the German side have increased security risks and sent erroneous signals.”

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning stressed that the “Taiwan issue is not about freedom of navigation but about China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.” While Beijing respects other countries’ rights to sail in international waters, as defined under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, it firmly opposes “any act of provocation under the pretext of freedom of navigation.”

The Chinese Embassy in Berlin clarified on Friday that the “waters in the Taiwan Strait are China’s internal waters, territorial waters, contiguous zones, and exclusive economic zones from both sides to the sea.”

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said on Friday that “international waters are international waters, it is the shortest route, it is the safest route given the weather conditions… so we pass through.”

Despite China’s repeated protests, the US, UK, Australia, Canada, and France have sent warships through the waterway on multiple occasions.