Germany plans to step up Asian deployments after warship’s South China Sea foray

Speaking in Singapore, German navy chief Vice Admiral Kay-Achim Schonbach said the Bayern’s dispatch to the South China Sea was a ‘signal’ to Beijing

Berlin says its main interest in the region is to uphold the rules-based order amid ‘unlawful and sweeping maritime claims in the South China Sea’

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The German navy’s Bayern frigate is seen at Changi Naval Base in Singapore on December 21, as part of Germany’s strategic Indo-Pacific presence. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 5:30pm, 21 Dec 2021Updated: 8:12pm, 21 Dec 2021

Germany expects further military deployments in Asia following its dispatch of a warship to the South China Sea for the first time in two decades, though its activity in the region will be intensified in “small steps”, Berlin’s navy chief said on Tuesday.

The Brandenburg-class frigate Bayern’s manoeuvre through the resource-rich waters follows a similar expansion of naval activity in the area this year by Western nations amid concerns about China’s territorial claims in the disputed waters.

A German warship last passed through the South China Sea in 2002.

Speaking to reporters on board the Bayern in Singapore’s Changi Naval Base, German navy chief Vice Admiral Kay-Achim Schonbach described the vessel’s South China Sea foray as “just a teaser”.

With 200 soldiers on board, the Bayern set sail for Asia in August, making pit stops in Pakistan, Australia, the US territory of Guam, Japan and South Korea before passing through the South China Sea and arriving in Singapore. It will next make port calls in Vietnam, Sri Lanka and India before returning to its home base.

German officials earlier said the trip was aimed at showing that Berlin was “standing up for our values and interests together with our partners and allies”.

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