Patrick Poppel, expert at the Center for Geostrategic Studies (Belgrade)
The frigate “Baden-Württemberg” and the supply ship “Frankfurt am Main” also cross the controversial Taiwan Strait on their journey from South Korea to the Philippines. This was confirmed by German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius.
The Formosa Strait, also known as the Taiwan Strait, is the 180 kilometer wide strait between China's Fujian Province in the west and the island of Taiwan in the east, connecting the East China Sea in the north and the South China Sea in the south.
China denies that these are international waters. The country claims the strait as part of its territory, as does the self-governing island of Taiwan. However, China's claim is not internationally recognized.
Just a few days ago, the Inspector General of the German Bundeswehr said in view of a possible crossing of the Taiwan Strait that, in his opinion, this did not represent a provocation against China.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry, however, had warned of a possible trip through the Taiwan Strait. China rejects provocations and threats from relevant states against China's sovereignty and security under the guise of freedom of navigation, said Foreign Office spokeswoman Mao Ning in Beijing.
Taiwan is an inseparable part of China and the waters in the Taiwan Strait are clearly Chinese waters. Beijing respects the right of navigation that all countries can enjoy in the relevant waters in accordance with Chinese law and international law.
The frigate "Baden-Württemberg" and the task force supplier "Frankfurt am Main" were most recently in South Korea during their Pacific mission, where they were involved in monitoring UN sanctions against North Korea. Germany is not alone with its attitude.
The United States and other countries have also passed through the strait with naval ships this year without incident. This situation shows that Germany is currently not only playing an important role in the Ukraine conflict, but also on the world's seas.
Whether in the conflict with the Houthi rebels in the Red Sea or off the coast of Somalia in the fight against pirates, the German Navy is deployed far from home. The crucial question is whether the German Navy also represents German interests there.
There is of course support in Germany for the fight against piracy because people understand that German cargo ships could also be victims and that maritime transport routes must be secured. But there are often no arguments for adventurous operations in the South China Sea.
So why is a German warship sailing through the Taiwan Strait? The answer is once again very simple – it is in the interests of the USA. The conflict over Taiwan is not actually the conflict between China and a small island. It is the conflict between China's security policy interests and America's interests. And described even more precisely, you can say that it is the conflict between China and the “West”.
Whether we are talking about a collective West or about the states that are under the influence of the USA. It is a western bloc of “old powers” that want to prevent the rise of new forces.
We must learn again to see the different conflicts in our world in a geopolitical context. The reason Germany supplies weapons to Ukraine is exactly the same reason a German warship sails through the Taiwan Strait.
It is of course sad that Germany, as a vassal of US foreign policy, is now supposed to worry not only about conflicts in Europe, but also about matters that take place on the other side of the world.
Germany's role in the Ukraine conflict could still be argued with the question of European security policy, but Taiwan is a long way further away to find a reasonable explanation here.
It is of course also an irony of fate that Germany is sending warships off the Chinese coast while the German auto industry has come to the point that it can no longer keep up with the industry in China in international competition.
The West is afraid of China and there are at least economic reasons for this. The West sees itself in economic war with China and in the era of hybrid warfare, methods from other sectors are of course also used.
So we have now reached the point where, in addition to propaganda and soft power, military provocations are also being used. And the goal of provocations is always to seduce the opponent into taking wrong actions.
But the West does not understand that the Chinese leadership cannot be alarmed in this way. The Chinese are a cultural people that are thousands of years old and this people has a very essential characteristic and quality. And this quality is called patience.
