German warships dispatched to the Indo-Pacific region soon will participate in joint naval exercises with Japan and the U.S., the officer leading the deployment said.
Germany will “contribute to maintaining the rules-based international order,” Rear Adm. Axel Schulz, commander of the German Navy’s 2nd Flotilla, told Nikkei.
Berlin has no overseas territories, and Asia is not a traditional region of concern in its security agenda. Yet in May, Germany sent a frigate and a combat supply ship to the Pacific for long-term operations.
The ships arrive in Tokyo this month, having passed through the Panama Canal from the Atlantic Ocean and made a port visit in Hawaii.
A German frigate traveled to the Pacific in 2021, but this deployment is larger and includes the German air force.
“A conflict in [the Indo-Pacific region] would have massive consequences for Germany as a major export nation,” Schulz said. Stability in the region is essential for “free world trade and global value chains.”
Germany will “strengthen and deepen relationships with our close and strategic partners in the Pacific,” the admiral said, listing Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia and Singapore among those partners.
“We cannot just pay lip service,” Schulz said. Germany will demonstrate solidarity with partners “by being present on the ground.”
The German frigate Baden-Wuerttemberg will arrive in Tokyo in late August. (Nico Theska/German armed forces)
Following the port visit to Japan, the German Navy will conduct exercises that include Japan, the U.S., France and Italy in waters near Japan. The German ships are expected to return to Europe after stops in South Korea and India.
The German ships’ arrival comes as China expands its blue-water presence, causing friction with neighbors in the South China Sea and East China Sea.
Schulz said the deployment is not directed toward any particular nation, but that Germany “advocates compliance to the rules-based international order.” He did not comment on Taiwan.
In 2020, the German cabinet adopted policy guidelines for the Indo-Pacific region, representing a shift in an Asian diplomacy that had been criticized as too oriented toward China. Berlin says it favors “derisking” to reduce Germany’s economic dependence on China.
