German warships visit Philippines amid South China Sea tensions

The ships, the first-class 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, Germany’s ambassador to the Philippines, the visit speaks to the continued cooperation between the two nations and “underlines how politically important the Indo-Pacific region has become for Germany.”

In an op-ed for The Philippine Star, Pfaffernoschke noted that Germany’s visit also demonstrates its commitment to upholding international law and freedom of navigation, coming at a time “when the international rules-based order in the High Seas South China is constantly challenged.”

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 a majority of the South China Sea, defying international law and stepping up efforts to assert its authority in the area.

The Philippines says China is engaging in aggressive behavior in its exclusive economic zone. It has been documented that Chinese ships were beating and harassing Philippine ships as well as blocking them from sailing through Philippine waters.

The port call of the German warships also comes at a particularly tense time between Berlin and Beijing. While traveling to Manila, Baden-Württemberg and Frankfurt am Main transited the Taiwan Strait, prompting reactions from China.

Unlike most countries that recognize the strait as an international waterway open to freedom of navigation, China claims the strait as its waters.

“Taiwan Strait waters from both shores to the middle of the strait are China’s internal waters, then the territorial sea, then the contiguous zone and then the exclusive economic zone,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said last week. noting that countries navigating the strait should do so in accordance with Chinese and international laws.

When Baden-Württemberg and Frankfurt am Main crossed the strait last week, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said this example of innocent passage was reasonable. “International waters are international waters,” he said. “It’s the shortest and, given the weather conditions, the safest route. So we’re on the way.”

In a regular press conference last Friday, Mao said China “firmly” opposes “any act of provocation under the pretext of freedom of navigation that harms China’s sovereignty and security.”

The People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command took things further, saying that “the German side’s behavior increases security risks and sends the 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”.