The German supply ship Frankfurt am Main, which is on a mission in the Asia-Pacific together with the frigate Baden-Württemberg, arrives in the port of Incheon, South Korea on September 6, 2024. Photo: VCG

The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) monitored two German warships as they transited the Taiwan Straits on Friday, while China lodged a formal protest with Germany, reiterating its firm stance that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory.

The German frigate Baden-Württemberg and supply ship Frankfurt am Main on Friday made a transit in the Taiwan Straits. In response, the PLA Eastern Theater Command deployed naval and air forces to track and monitor the entire course, remaining on alert, said Senior Captain Li Xi, a spokesperson at the PLA Eastern Theater Command, in a statement on Saturday.

The German action heightened security risks and sent the wrong signals. The theater troops remain on high alert, prepared to counter any threats and provocations, Li said.

Senior Colonel Wu Qian, a Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson, said in a release on Saturday that freedom of navigation does not equal willful trespassing, nor should it be used to provoke China or harm China’s sovereignty and security. 

The Chinese military remains on high alert and will take all necessary measures to resolutely defend China’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and firmly safeguard peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits, Wu said.

Germany's decision to send warships through the Taiwan Straits sets a bad precedent, experts warned. It not only cast a shadow on Beijing-Berlin ties, but also sent wrong signals to the "Taiwan independence" secessionist forces, experts said.

A spokesperson at the Chinese Embassy in Germany said on Friday that China has lodged stern representations with Germany over the German warships' transit through the Taiwan Straits, reaffirming its firm stance that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory.

The Taiwan question is not about "freedom of navigation," but rather China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, a Chinese embassy spokesperson emphasized, noting that the waters of the Taiwan Straits, from the both shores toward the sea, are divided into several zones including internal waters, territorial sea, contiguous zone, and exclusive economic zone. There are no so-called "international waters" in the Straits, the spokesperson noted.

China respects the navigation rights of all countries in relevant waters granted by the Chinese law and international law including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, but firmly opposes any actions that provoke or harm China's sovereignty and security under the pretext of freedom of navigation, the spokesperson stated.

China urged Germany to adhere to the one-China principle and uphold basic international norms, cautioning against actions that could disrupt or damage the stable development of China-Germany relations, according to the Chinese embassy.