China is angry about the German Navy's passage through the Taiwan Strait

BEIJING – The Chinese military condemned the passage of two German naval ships through the Taiwan Strait on Saturday. It increased security risks and sent a “wrong” signal. In addition, Chinese forces had monitored and warned the ships.

China, which claims democratically ruled Taiwan as its own, maintains it alone exercises sovereignty and jurisdiction over the strait. Both the United States and Taiwan say the strait, a key trade route through which about half the world's container ships pass, is an international waterway.

The People's Liberation Army's Eastern Command said the passage of the two ships – a frigate and a supply ship – was a “public provocation” and that the navy and air forces had been monitoring and warning them the entire time.

“The behavior of the German side increases security risks and sends the wrong signal. The troops in the operational area are on high alert at all times and will resolutely counter all threats and provocations,” it said in a statement.

The Chinese embassy in Germany said in a separate statement that it had lodged “complaints” in Berlin, claiming that Taiwan belongs to China. However, the democratically elected government in Taipei strongly rejects this position.

“The Taiwan question is not a question 'It is not about “freedom of navigation” but about China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” it said.

The Taiwan Strait is Chinese waters “and there are no so-called '“We are not allowed to be in international waters at all,” the embassy added.

China calls on Germany to avoid any “interference” that would endanger the healthy and stable development of bilateral relations, it said.

The Taiwanese government says that only the island’s people can decide its future.

US warships sail through the strait about every two months, drawing the ire of Beijing, and some US allies such as Canada and Britain also occasionally sail through the strait.

China has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control, but over the past five years it has increased its military activities around the island, including war games.

On Saturday, Taiwan's coast guard said it had again dispatched ships to monitor and warn four Chinese maritime police vessels that were sailing in restricted waters near the Taiwan-controlled Kinmen Islands, just off the Chinese coast.

The Chinese ships continued to provoke and disturb the peace in the strait, and the coast guard was determined to defend Taiwan's sovereignty while adhering to the principles of “no provocation, no conflict and no display of weakness,” it said.