Frigate and supply ship
German Navy sends warships to East Asia again
06/04/2023 12:19 p.m
After 2021, the German Navy will again send warships to the Indo-Pacific. According to Defense Minister Pistorius, a frigate and a supply ship are to set sail for East Asia next year in response to China’s territorial ambitions.
The German Navy will send two warships to the Indo-Pacific next year. This was announced by Defense Minister Boris Pistorius in Singapore at the “Shangri-La Dialogue”, Asia’s most important security conference. A frigate and a supply ship would set off for the region in 2024, said the SPD politician.
In 2021, a German warship entered the South China Sea for the first time in almost 20 years. In doing so, the German government joined other western states at the time in expanding their military presence amid concerns about China’s territorial ambitions.
According to the speech transcript, Pistorius said that the German Navy’s operations were not directed against a specific country. “They serve to protect the rules-based international order that we all signed up to and should all benefit from – be it in the Mediterranean, the Bay of Bengal or the South China Sea.”
China claims almost all of the South China Sea, despite an international court ruling that there is no legal basis for doing so. China has expanded its presence with military outposts on man-made islands, among other things. The People’s Republic has thus created bases in waters that contain gas fields and rich fishing grounds. In addition, Beijing claims the island republic of Taiwan, which is supported by the USA.
With the stronger military presence in the region, Germany is walking a tightrope between its security and economic interests, as China is Germany’s most important trading partner. About 40 percent of European foreign trade flows through the South China Sea.