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text | xiaoyin

two german warships, the frigate "baden-württemberg" and the supply ship "frankfurt", passed through the taiwan strait on september 13, and the german side publicly hyped it up.

in response to this, on september 14, senior colonel wu qian, spokesperson for the ministry of national defense, issued a message saying:

"two german warships passed through the taiwan strait and made a public fuss about it. the eastern theater command of the chinese people's liberation army organized naval and air forces to monitor and guard the german ships throughout the entire process."

as colonel wu qian responded, "freedom of navigation does not mean freedom to run rampant, and it cannot be used to provoke and endanger china's sovereignty and security." after germany announced that it would send two warships to the taiwan strait to conduct "freedom of navigation", the ministry of foreign affairs and the taiwan affairs office of the state council all spoke out, saying that the taiwan strait is not "international waters" or "international waterways."

china's reasoning is clear: there is no such term in international maritime law. in other words, the term "international waters" or "international waterways" is itself very unprofessional.

it should also be noted that sovereignty belongs to china, whether it is the mainland or taiwan. according to foreign ministry spokesman mao ning's answer to a question from a german news agency reporter on september 9, "the waters in the taiwan strait from both sides to the sea are china's inland waters, territorial waters, contiguous zones and exclusive economic zones." in other words, there are high seas within the taiwan strait.

in this case, mao ning also said -

china respects the navigation rights of all countries in relevant waters in accordance with chinese laws and international law, including the united nations convention on the law of the sea, but firmly opposes relevant countries provoking and endangering china's sovereignty and security under the banner of freedom of navigation.

mao ning presided over the ministry of foreign affairs' regular press conference on september 9. photo: ministry of foreign affairs website

so, how should german warships cross the taiwan strait?

in fact, we have to report it to the chinese side!

not notifying but publicizing in advance is actually equivalent to informing china and other parties that their ships are passing through the taiwan strait. afterwards, xiaoyin also found that the speed of the two warships passing through the taiwan strait was only about 10 knots, which is much lower than the speed of passing through other waters. what is this?

on the day when the "baden-württemberg" and "frankfurt" passed through the taiwan strait, german defense minister pistorius publicly announced that german ships had passed through the taiwan strait, as if it was something very remarkable.

german naval task force commander rear admiral schulz openly stated that germany's purpose in doing so was to demonstrate to the outside world its advocacy of establishing a "rules-based" international order and peacefully resolving territorial issues.

xiaoyin wants to ask, when you "broadcasted" this passage, did you have the courage to speed up your ship? did you see the chinese people's liberation army ships flanking you on both sides, unable to go faster and unable to deviate from the course?

in fact, because the german ships were sailing east of the so-called median line of the strait, the pla's surveillance of the german ships was undoubtedly a declaration to the whole world, including germany, that both sides of the strait belong to one china, and that the chinese central government and the people's liberation army are in charge!

baden-württemberg (left) and frankfurt

so why did germany send ships to the taiwan strait?

in xiaoyin's opinion, his biggest purpose is to offer a "pledge of allegiance" to the united states, or to show his loyalty!

it should be noted that before and after the russian-ukrainian conflict, germany's attitudes were not completely consistent with those of the united states and britain. in particular, before the russian-ukrainian conflict, the "nord stream 2" natural gas pipeline agreed upon by germany and russia was beneficial to the german economy. but after the conflict, the "nord stream" pipeline was blown up.

who did this has yet to be figured out.

germany recently issued a wanted warrant, and the wanted person slipped back to ukraine from poland.

let’s not discuss for now what role the united states played in the nord stream bombing. as the russian-ukrainian conflict dragged on, germany repeatedly followed the united states in sending weapons to ukraine, but there were many people in the country who opposed this. even the german authorities still have different views on the russian-ukrainian conflict from those of the united states and britain.

again, the west is not a monolithic entity.

under such circumstances, germany chose to take action in the far east, which has nothing to do with the russia-ukraine conflict, and do something that seems to please the united states. this is its logic.

it's funny to think about germany. because of its defeat in world war ii, germany was divided into two - federal republic of germany and democratic republic of germany. some of its territory was even taken by the victorious countries. for example, königsberg in east prussia became kaliningrad in the soviet union and even in russia today.

because germany was a defeated country, it did not escape the fate of being beaten up by the chinese people's volunteer army during the korean war.

today, more than 30 years after the reunification of east and west germany, the relationship between germany and china is generally good. is it interesting to send warships to the taiwan strait to act as a big wolf at this time? will germany itself be the one who suffers in the end?

i think if someone in germany likes to think deeply, they will find the right answer.