China’s military expressed strong disapproval on Saturday regarding the transit of two German navy ships through the Taiwan Strait. The People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theatre Command labeled the passage, involving a frigate and a supply vessel, as “public hyping” and declared that its navy and air forces closely monitored and issued warnings to the vessels throughout their journey.
The statement asserted that the German actions heighten security risks and convey an undesirable message. The command emphasized that their troops remain on high alert, prepared to resolutely counter any threats or provocations.
China’s embassy in Germany echoed these sentiments, lodging “representations” with Berlin, stating that Taiwan is an integral part of China – a position the democratically elected government in Taipei vehemently rejects.
The embassy asserted that the Taiwan issue is not a matter of “freedom of navigation” but a fundamental matter of China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. The embassy further declared that the Taiwan Strait falls under Chinese jurisdiction, dismissing any notion of “international waters.” China urged Germany to refrain from any actions that could disrupt the healthy and stable development of their bilateral relations.
Taiwan’s government maintains its position that only the island’s people have the right to determine their future.
This incident follows a pattern of U.S. warships regularly traversing the strait, approximately once every two months, provoking Beijing’s ire. Other allies of the U.S., including Canada and Britain, have also made occasional transits.
China, which has never ruled out the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control, has intensified its military activities around the island over the past five years, including conducting war games. Despite these actions, Taiwan’s defense ministry stated last month that it believes China lacks the capacity for a full-scale invasion due to insufficient equipment.
China’s defense ministry responded with a sharp rebuke, labeling the Taiwanese government’s assessment as “absurd and ridiculous” and reiterating its commitment to the complete reunification of the motherland, a historical inevitability, according to the ministry’s spokesperson Wu Qian.
In a separate incident on Saturday, Taiwan’s coast guard reported deploying its own vessels to monitor and warn four Chinese maritime police vessels operating in restricted waters near the Taiwan-controlled Kinmen islands. The Kinmen islands are situated close to China’s mainland. The coast guard accused the Chinese ships of provocative actions and disruption of peace in the strait, vowing to defend Taiwan’s sovereignty by upholding principles of non-provocation, conflict avoidance, and a rejection of weakness. Calls to China’s defense ministry for comment went unanswered.
