German navy chief vows long-term commitment to Indo-Pacific

Germany’s Chief of Navy Vice Adm. Kay-Achim Schonbach attends a press conference at the Japan National Press Club Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021, in Tokyo. The German frigate is visiting Tokyo after two days of joint exercises with the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer Samidare in the Pacific Ocean amid increasingly assertive maritime activities by China in the region. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

THE WASHINGTON POST

By Mari Yamaguchi | APToday at 7:25 a.m. EST

TOKYO — The chief of Germany’s navy said Tuesday that its dispatch of a warship to the Indo-Pacific underscores his country’s concern that freedom of navigation and the rule-based international order are being threatened in the region, an apparent reference to its biggest trading partner, China.

Vice Adm. Kay-Achim Schonbach, in Tokyo for a port call by the frigate Bayern, said escalating tensions, territorial disputes and the changing military balance in the region can have an extensive impact beyond Asia.

Speaking at a news conference, Schonbach said the ship’s dispatch is to show support for Japan, the United States and other partners, and join their efforts in advocating peace, free navigation and the rule-based international order.

“The South China Sea is a global common, that is, a sea area that belongs to everyone, so it cannot be taken possession of or claimed by anyone if … we abide by the international world order,” he said.

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