In a development that will not go well with China, Japanise Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi on Friday (November ) said Japan will work more closely with Germany and step up military cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region as he welcomed Deutsche Marine, frigate Bayern which is making a port call.
This is the first German warship to visit Japan in about 20 years and it will participate in joint exercises with the Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force destroyer Samidare in the Pacific Ocean which will enhance interoperability.
China in the last few years has been following a very aggressive maritime strategy in the Indo-Pacific and Defence Minister Kishi said that the visit by a German naval ship after twenty years is “an important turning point” in pursuing a “free and open Indo-Pacific” and secure one of the world’s most important shipping lanes, Kishi said after inspecting the frigate with German officials.
“It shows Germany’s strong commitment to actively contribute to peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific,” he said.
Kishi underscored the importance of Japan-Germany cooperation, saying, “In the East China Sea and the South China Sea, we see unilateral attempts to change the status quo based on force, and these problems are a common concern not only in Asia but also in the rest of the world, including Europe.”
“The Indo-Pacific is today one of the strategically most important regions and the deployment of Bayern is part of a demonstration of our Indo-Pacific guidelines.”,” Gen. Eberhard Zorn, chief of Germany’s armed forces, said at a joint news conference with Kishi.
“Here important decisions over freedom, peace and wellbeing in the world are being made. Deploying our frigate to the Indo-Pacific makes clear that Germany stands up for our common values.”
Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said in September that the deployment of such a warship in the South China Sea is intended to “flex muscles and stir up trouble, deliberately creating disputes on maritime issues.”
Germany is not the only country that is now pivoting towards the Indo-Pacific as part of a shift to the region as other European countries including Britain and France that have powerful navies gyrate towards this region and conduct joint naval exercises in the East and South China seas.
Germany like many nations have recalibrated its defence guideline last year and started to focus on the Indo-Pacific region and has since stepped up its military ties with Japan. The two sides even signed an agreement in March on the protection of classified information exchanges and held their first security talks involving defence and foreign ministers in June.
China has not only been posturing with aggressive intent in the Indo-Pacific, but it also claims most of the South China Sea and Japanese-held islands in the East China Sea, putting in jeopardy the security of many nations in that region as the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) routinely violate Japanese territorial waters around the islands in the East China Sea, sometimes threatening fishing boats.
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