German frigate completes passage through South China Sea

DW (English)

Germany's frigate Baden-Württemberg has just completed its passage through the South China Sea amid tensions over China's territorial claims. The trip signals Germany's increased military presence in the Indo-Pacific. DW was on board.

Transcript

00:00At a brisk speed of 25 knots, the German warship crosses the invisible sea border.

00:07It's now out of Indonesian waters into what's called the high seas.

00:12The digital map signals the crew of the frigate Baden-Württemberg that they can now start

00:18their training manoeuvre.

00:20Today we have flight operations, so we first have to cross the territorial waters from

00:34Indonesia to the high sea before we can launch our helicopter.

00:39Whether you're on the high seas or whether you're within so-called exclusive economic

00:45or territorial waters is complex and often a matter of interpretation.

00:50Just as in the case of the South China Sea, which the Baden-Württemberg recently crossed.

00:56China claims sovereignty over about 90 percent of it, which contradicts the UN Convention

01:01on the Law of the Sea, says the maritime legal expert on board.

01:06China used this to interpret it, to bring their own interest in the interpretation of

01:13the Law of the Seas.

01:14And that is not only China, all coastal states, all states that bring ships into the sea interpretate

01:25and set their own interests in this law.

01:29This is a fact.

01:32About a third of global maritime trade passes through the South China Sea annually, making

01:38unhindered passage essential to the global economy.

01:42Germany's deployment in the region was a signal that all nations should be able to

01:46manoeuvre freely in international waters, including Singapore, which today is also participating

01:53in the military exercise.

01:58While sailing through the South China Sea, the German warship was shadowed by Chinese

02:03vessels, sticking to the same route and maintaining about the same distance as this warship from

02:09Singapore.

02:11The German fleet admiral explains that shadowing other ships is routine and that during the

02:17Baden-Württemberg's transit through the South China Sea, the Chinese kept an appropriate

02:22distance.

02:23The fact that China was closely observing Germany's passage through waters they claim

02:28for themselves was very much part of the mission.

02:32As we recognise the Taiwan Strait as well as the South and East China Sea as international

02:39waters and the high seas, we acted in accordance with international maritime law and exercised

02:48the freedom of navigation and the freedom of being in international waters and at the

02:54high seas.

02:56The German Indo-Pacific deployment was the second mission of its kind.

03:02Germany plans to return soon to show allies in the region that when it comes to upholding

03:07the freedom of navigation, they are ready to sail alongside them.

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