Germany sails two warships through Taiwan Strait for the first time in two decades

Associated Press

BANGKOK (AP) — Germany has sailed two warships through the Taiwan Strait in its first transit of the disputed waters in more than two decades, as Berlin seeks to increase its defense engagement in the Asia-Pacific region. China claims the self-governing democratic island of Taiwan as its own, and views such transits as provocative actions. To counter that, the United States and allies including Australia, Canada, Britain and France, have regularly sailed through the waterway to emphasize that it is international waters. “The signal is a very simple one,,” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told reporters in Berlin. “International waters are international waters.”