German warships’ transit through the Taiwan Strait this week demonstrated Europe’s interest in keeping East Asia peaceful, a Taiwanese academic said on Friday.
Military ships from the US and other countries have often sailed through the sensitive waterway, but Friday’s voyage by the frigate Baden-Wuerttemberg and the supply vessel Frankfurt am Main was the first time the German Navy had done so in more than two decades.
German Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius on Friday said the vessels were headed from South Korea to the Philippines, adding that their course was the shortest and safest route given the weather conditions.
Photo courtesy of the Taiwan ADIZ Facebook page
“It’s an international waterway,” he said.
The transit shows that European nations have connected their own security with the Indo-Pacific region, especially Taiwan, which was echoed in President William Lai’s (賴清德) remarks that “Taiwan is the world’s Taiwan,” National Taiwan University political science professor Chen Shih-min (陳世民) said on Friday.
The US is the major power that usually maintains peace in Europe and East Asia, but following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the US support for the eastern European country, Washington might struggle to maintain the same role in East Asia, Chen said.
As such, European countries have begun to take on a larger role in the Indo-Pacific region’s security to maintain peace and assist the US in stabilizing the region, which includes the Taiwan Strait, he said.
They have moved away from their previous belief that the region is too distant and disconnected from Europe, Chen said.
For example, after the NATO Summit in July, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has called for members to show concern for the Taiwan Strait, take seriously the threat that China poses to the international order as well as NATO in particular through its military buildup, he said.
Friday’s transit was the first in the Strait by a German naval vessel since 2002, but in the past two years other European navies have sailed through the waterway, such as a Dutch warship in June on its way to carry out UN sanctions against North Korea, the professor said.
In each of the past two years, the Italian Navy has sent a frigate on a training and patrol to the region as a way to signal support for the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, although the ships did not enter the Strait either time, he added.
In the past few weeks, the US and Canada have sent warships through the Strait, underscoring the importance of freedom of navigation through the sea lane, Chen said.
For comparison, in 2021, when a German ship carried out its mission in the Indo-Pacific region, it chose to pass to the east of Taiwan on its way back to Europe, he said.
This most recent transit, less than one month after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co held a groundbreaking ceremony in Dresden, Germany, which was attended by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, shows that Germany has greater interest in ensuring peace and stability in the Strait, Chen said.
Additional reporting by agencies
The first of 10 new high-capacity trains purchased from South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem arrived at the Port of Taipei yesterday to meet the demands of an expanding metro network, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. The train completed a three-day, 1,200km voyage from the Port of Masan in South Korea, the company said. Costing NT$590 million (US$18.79 million) each, the new six-carriage trains feature a redesigned interior based on "human-centric" transportation concepts, TRTC said. The design utilizes continuous longitudinal seating to widen the aisles and optimize passenger flow, while also upgrading passenger information displays and driving control systems for a more comfortable
Taiwan's first indigenous defense submarine, the SS-711 Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), departed for its 13th sea trial at 7am today, marking its seventh submerged test, with delivery to the navy scheduled for July. The outing also marked its first sea deployment since President William Lai (賴清德) boarded the submarine for an inspection on March 19, drawing a crowd of military enthusiasts who gathered to show support. The submarine this morning departed port accompanied by CSBC Corp’s Endeavor Manta (奮進魔鬼魚號) uncrewed surface vessel and a navy M109 assault boat. Amid public interest in key milestones such as torpedo-launching operations and overnight submerged trials,
Quarantine awareness posters at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport have gone viral for their use of wordplay. Issued by the airport branch of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency, the posters feature sniffer dogs making a range of facial expressions, paired with advisory messages built around homophones. “We update the messages for holidays and campaign needs, periodically refreshing materials to attract people’s attention,” quarantine officials said. “The aim is to use the dogs’ appeal to draw focus to quarantine regulations.” A Japanese traveler visiting Taiwan has posted a photo on X of a poster showing a quarantine dog with a
Taiwan’s coffee community has launched a “one-person-one-e-mail” campaign, calling for people to send a protest-e-mail to the World Coffee Championships (WCC) urging it to redesignate Taiwanese competitors as from “Taiwan,” rather than “Chinese Taipei.” The call followed sudden action last week after the WCC changed all references to Taiwanese competitors from “Taiwan” to “Chinese Taipei,” including recent World Latte Art champion Bala (林紹興), who won the World Latte Art Championship in San Diego earlier this month. When Bala received the trophy, he was referred to as representing Taiwan, as well as in the announcement on the WCC’s Web site, until it
RSS