German warships Sail through sensitive Taiwan Strait

• The move is the first time in over two decades that the German navy has done so.
• Beijing views Taiwan as a renegade province and claims jurisdiction over the Taiwan Strait.
• Global tracking service MarineTraffic shows the vessels sailing into the Strait on a southerly course, west of Taipei.

On Friday, the German defense minister announced that two German naval vessels were heading into the Taiwan Strait, a move likely to provoke a diplomatic protest from Beijing. When asked if the frigate Baden-Württemberg and the supply ship Frankfurt am Main were entering or passing through the Strait, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius confirmed, “I can confirm that.”

“And the message is a very simple one, which we have always supported… international waters are international waters,” Pistorius told journalists in Berlin.

U.S. and other military ships frequently sail through the sensitive waterway, but German media reports indicate that this is the first time in over two decades the German navy has done so. Beijing views Taiwan as a renegade province and claims jurisdiction over the Taiwan Strait, which separates the island from the Chinese mainland.

Germany and many other countries argue that such voyages are routine, citing freedom of navigation in international waters. Defense ministry officials earlier reported that the two German vessels were traveling from South Korea to the Philippines. Pistorius stated that the vessels’ course was “the shortest route.”

“It is the safest route given the weather conditions. And these are international waters, so we are sailing through them.”

On Friday, global tracking service MarineTraffic showed the vessels sailing into the Strait on a southerly course, west of Taipei. German magazine Der Spiegel first reported the planned voyage last week, but German defense officials did not confirm the plans immediately.

Taiwan’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday it “welcomes and affirms Germany, along with the US, Canada and the Netherlands, for taking actions to demonstrate the legal status of the Taiwan Strait as international waters, while defending freedom of navigation and maintaining regional peace at the same time.”

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