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For the first time in over 20 years, two ships of the German Navy are visiting the Philippines.
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The port call comes amid clashes between Chinese and Philippine ships in the South China Sea.
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The German ships have just passed through the Taiwan Strait, sparking anger in China.
Two German warships visit the Philippines for the first time in more than 20 years, after a remarkable passage through the Taiwan Strait.
The port call, which Germany says is a confirmation of its commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific region and a rules-based international order, a rhetoric often used by the US, and evidence of its defense cooperation with the Philippines, comes against the backdrop of rising tensions between China and the Philippines due to disputes in the South China Sea.
The ships, the leading frigate Baden-Württemberg and the Berlin-class supply ship Frankfurt am Main, arrived in Manila on Monday and will remain in port until Thursday.
According to Andreas Pfaffernoschke, the German ambassador to the Philippines, the visit is an example of the continued cooperation between the two countries and “underscores how politically important the Indo-Pacific region has become for Germany.”
In an opinion piece for The Filipino starPfaffernoschke noted that Germany’s visit also demonstrates the country’s commitment to upholding international law and freedom of navigation, and that it comes at a time “when the international rules-based order in the South China Sea is under continued challenge.”
Pfaffernoschke added that recent incidents between China and the Philippines have raised concerns about security and stability in the area.
Clashes between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea have been escalating for months as China unfairly claims sovereignty over much of the South China Sea, defying international law while stepping up efforts to to confirm her authority in the area.
The Philippines says China is behaving aggressively within its exclusive economic zone. There are documents showing Chinese ships ramming and harassing Philippine vessels and blocking them from passing through Philippine waters.
The German warships’ port call also comes at a particularly tense time between Berlin and Beijing. During the voyage to Manila, Baden-Württemberg and Frankfurt am Main passed the Taiwan Straitwhich led to a backlash in China.
Unlike most countries that recognize the strait as an international waterway open to free navigation, China claims the strait as its waters.
“The waters of the Taiwan Strait, from both banks to the middle of the Strait, are China’s internal waters, then the territorial sea, then the contiguous zone and finally the exclusive economic zone,” said Mao Ning, spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry. said last week, noting that countries sailing through the strait must do so in accordance with Chinese and international law.
When the Baden-Württemberg and Frankfurt am Main passed through the strait last week, German Defense Ministry Boris Pistorius claimed that this example of innocent passage was reasonable. “International waters are international waters,” he said. said“It’s the shortest and, given the weather conditions, the safest route. So we’re going through it.”
In a regular press conference last Friday, Mao said said China “firmly opposes” “any form of provocation under the pretext of freedom of navigation that harms China’s sovereignty and security.”
The Eastern Theater Command of the People’s Liberation Army went one step further, proverb “The behavior of the German side increases security risks and sends a wrong signal,” while the Chinese embassy in Berlin said that “the Taiwan issue is not a matter of ‘freedom of navigation’ but of China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Read the original article at Company Insider
