Germany Sends Warship To S China Sea - First Time In Two Decades Amid Rising Tensions

‘Flying the flag’: Germany sends warship to South China Sea for first time in two decades amid rising tensions

RT

A German frigate has set sail for the South China Sea for the first time in some two decades as part of a six-month mission, as Berlin pledges its commitment to its allies and to ‘freedom of navigation’.

One of Germany’s four Brandenburg-class frigates, the Bayern (Bavaria), departed the German naval base of Wilhelmshaven on Monday during a ceremony attended by Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer. 

The military vessel carrying 46 anti-submarine torpedoes, as well as anti-ship missiles and anti-aircraft weapons, will spend the next six months at sea and is expected to sail near the Horn of Africa, Australia, and Japan, according to the German Navy.

“Together with its allies, Germany wants to show more presence in the Indo-Pacific [region],” the navy’s statement said. It is expected to sail through the South China Sea – a region where tensions between Washington and Beijing are running high.

The waters of the South China Sea have long been a stumbling point in regional territorial disputes. Beijing maintains that it has a historic right to the waters, but its territorial claims covering most of the sea have been denied by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, which ruled in favor of the Philippines.

The US military has also made its presence known in the resource-rich region under the pretext of maintaining stability and protecting “freedom of navigation.” Most recently, Washington hinted it would rally its allies to its cause in the South China Sea, with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken saying his country would stand alongside others in facing up to Chinese “coercion.”

The navy’s statement, which presents the whole mission as an “ordinary presence-and-training voyage,”does not mention China or the South China Sea by name. It does say, though, that the Indo-Pacific area is “the most strategically important region on earth,” where “important decisions are made about freedom, peace and prosperity.”