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Germany navy chief vows commitment to Indo-Pacific as warship to sail South China Sea
- Vice Admiral Kay-Achim Schonbach said the frigate’s dispatch was to show support for Japan, the US and other partners
- The Bayern will travel through the South China Sea, where China is increasingly pressing its territorial claims, to demonstrate its right to freedom of passage
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The chief of Germany’s navy on Tuesday said that its dispatch of a warship to the Indo-Pacific underscored his country’s concerns that freedom of navigation and the rule-based international order were being threatened in the region, an apparent reference to its biggest trading partner, China.
Vice Admiral Kay-Achim Schonbach, in Tokyo for a port call by the frigate Bayern, said escalating tensions, territorial disputes and the changing military balance in the region can have an extensive impact beyond Asia.
Speaking at a news conference, he said the ship’s dispatch is to show support for Japan, the United States and other partners, and joins their efforts in advocating peace, free navigation and the rule-based international order.
The Bayern will travel through the South China Sea, where China is increasingly pressing its territorial claims, to demonstrate its right to freedom of passage.
The frigate arrived in Tokyo on Friday, becoming the first German warship to visit Japan in nearly 20 years.
It conducted joint exercises with other militaries along the way, including two days of exercises with a Japanese destroyer in the Pacific Ocean, German officials said.
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