Stability in the Indo-Pacific is of great importance for Germany. The journey of the frigate “Baden-Württemberg” also takes this into account. On one section was ARD-Correspondent Jennifer Johnston on board.
The frigate “Baden-Württemberg” slowly drives out of the port of Jakarta, past a German-made Indonesian submarine. The submarine’s crew is lined up outside on the deck. Hands raised in military salute.
A whistle sounds. Frigate captain Sascha Huth waves from a distance with his white cap. “This is how we greet each other everywhere, including on the high seas, when we encounter a warship with which we maintain friendly relations.”
Shadowed by the Chinese
When sailing through the South China Sea and especially the Taiwan Strait, the mood was not so relaxed. The German frigate was shadowed the entire time by several Chinese warships. There was no whistling, no waving, no friendly greeting. Instead, while traveling through the Taiwan Strait, the frigate received a radio announcement from the Chinese side that the Germans were sailing through territorial waters and should leave them.
A statement that is not true. According to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, the strait between China and Taiwan is international waters and therefore freely navigable. The frigate also explained this and stuck to its course.
“You felt like you weren’t welcome”
It was the first in 22 years that German naval ships sailed through the Taiwan Strait. The most delicate moment on the route so far through the Indo-Pacific, more than 10,000 kilometers as the crow flies from Germany. During the first Indo-Pacific deployment in 2021, the Navy avoided this strait.
The Chinese warships now basically kept a safe distance and behaved professionally. “But we were made to feel that we were not welcome,” says Flotilla Admiral Axel Schulz, who leads the mission. The passage was also intended to show that Germany does not accept China’s territorial claims. “And we can only do that by being there pass through regularly,” says Stephanie Finke, who is accompanying the mission on board as legal advisor.
Great importance of the region
The Indo-Pacific is enormously important for Germany as a trading nation. Almost 40 percent of German foreign trade outside the EU takes place in the region. Flotilla Admiral Axel Schulz likes to take this opportunity to remember the container freighter “Ever Given”, which blocked the Suez Canal around three years ago. That alone had a major impact on global supply chains back then. Impairment of the trade routes in the Indo-Pacific would have much more serious consequences, including for Germany’s prosperity and supplies.
The “Baden-Württemberg” is an armed warship, the most modern that the Navy currently has. The task force supplier “Frankfurt am Main” is a gas station and supermarket. The ship is loaded with fuel, food, ammunition, spare parts and even a hospital on board.
The operating room on the operational group supply facility “Frankfurt am Main”. Emergencies land here.
A question of practice
In the distance, Frigate Captain Huth sees a Singapore Navy submarine. A gray Singaporean warship sails next to him. It’s six in the morning. They’re about to start a joint maneuver. These exercises are a particularly important part of the mission. They served to get to know the friendly country’s navy, the procedures and the Morse code.
There is also the question of how to land a helicopter on another’s ship. “In order to ultimately be compatible with each other when it matters,” explains Admiral Schulz. The joint naval exercises also showed that the Europeans can operate in the region without the Americans, says Christian Schultheiss, maritime law expert and political scientist at the Max Planck Institute. “The Defense Minister calls the trip a presence trip. I would rather call it a learning trip.”
Exercises like this are a particularly important part of the mission. How does a helicopter land on another’s ship? Because: When it comes down to it, we have to be “compatible with each other”.
Not every country wants support
The frigate “Baden-Württemberg” and the task force supplier “Frankfurt am Main” call at several ports on their route through the Indo-Pacific. They were given a very warm welcome in Japan, South Korea and the Philippines, remembers Admiral Schulz. In addition to Singapore, other port stays in Southeast Asia include Indonesia and Malaysia. The latter tend to have a skeptical attitude towards the presence of foreign navies in Southeast Asia, says political scientist Schultheiss.
It is therefore good to talk to the countries and carry out bilateral exercises. It is important to get to know political sensibilities and perceptions. “Germany should not overestimate itself and assume that every country automatically wants support from foreign navies just because they have disputes with China. That is a misjudgment,” emphasizes Schultheiss.
The crew of the frigate “Baden-Württemberg” stands on deck as it arrives in Singapore.
Appreciation in Singapore
With Singapore, on the other hand, the connections are very close, in the navy, air force and army, explained Inspector General Breuer during his recent visit to the city state. “There is hardly any other country in this region where the connection is so close.” He brushes off criticism that two naval ships are not a big sign.
“It is valued much more here than we imagine in Germany.” In the region, the German flag is also perceived as a representative of the European Union, says Collin Koh, security expert at the Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore. The fact that the German warships sailed through the Taiwan Strait is a strong sign that Germany is helping to maintain the rules-based order in the region.