China Condemns German Navy's Transit of Taiwan Strait

FILED - 06 September 2024, South Korea, Incheon: The German frigate "Baden-Wuerttemberg" is moored in the port of Incheon. Photo: Fabian Kretschmer/dpa
FILED - 06 September 2024, South Korea, Incheon: The German frigate "Baden-Wuerttemberg" is moored in the port of Incheon. Photo: Fabian Kretschmer/dpa
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China Condemns German Navy's Transit of Taiwan Strait

FILED - 06 September 2024, South Korea, Incheon: The German frigate "Baden-Wuerttemberg" is moored in the port of Incheon. Photo: Fabian Kretschmer/dpa
FILED - 06 September 2024, South Korea, Incheon: The German frigate "Baden-Wuerttemberg" is moored in the port of Incheon. Photo: Fabian Kretschmer/dpa

China's military on Saturday condemned the transit of two German navy ships through the Taiwan Strait saying it increased security risks and sent the "wrong" signal, adding that Chinese forces monitored and warned the vessels.
China, which claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own, says it alone exercises sovereignty and jurisdiction over the strait. Both the United States and Taiwan say the strait - a major trade route through which about half of global container ships pass - is an international waterway.
The People's Liberation Army's Eastern Theater Command said the passage of the two ships - a frigate and a supply vessel - was "public hyping,” and that its navy and air forces monitored and warned them throughout.
"The German side's behavior increases security risks and sends the wrong signal. Troops in the theatre are on high alert at all times and will resolutely counter all threats and provocations," Reuters quoted it as saying in a statement.
China's embassy in Germany said in a separate statement it had lodged "representations" with Berlin, saying Taiwan belonged to China, a position the democratically elected government in Taipei strongly rejects.
"The question of Taiwan is not a matter of 'freedom of navigation,’ but of China's sovereignty and territorial integrity," it said.
The Taiwan Strait is Chinese waters "and there are no so-called 'international waters' at all,” the embassy added.
China urges Germany to avoid any "interference" that would jeopardize the healthy and stable development of bilateral relations, it added.
Taiwan's government says only the island's people can decide their future.
US warships sail through the strait around once every two months, drawing the ire of Beijing, and some US allies like Canada and Britain have also made occasional transits.
China, which has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control, has over the past five years stepped up military activities around the island, including staging war games.
On Saturday, Taiwan's coast guard said it had again sent ships to monitor and warn away four Chinese maritime police vessels sailing in restricted waters near the Taiwan-controlled Kinmen islands, which sit right next to China's coast.
The Chinese ships have continued to provoke and damage peace in the strait, and the coast guard is determined to defend Taiwan's sovereignty upholding the principles of no provocation, no conflict and no show of weakness, it said.



Hezbollah Official Says Group Will Not 'Initiate' Attack on Israel after Israeli Strikes on Iran

FILED - 27 October 2023, Iran, Chomein: A woman sorts flags of the Lebanese Hezbollah militia in a factory. Photo: Arne Immanuel Bansch/dpa
FILED - 27 October 2023, Iran, Chomein: A woman sorts flags of the Lebanese Hezbollah militia in a factory. Photo: Arne Immanuel Bansch/dpa
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Hezbollah Official Says Group Will Not 'Initiate' Attack on Israel after Israeli Strikes on Iran

FILED - 27 October 2023, Iran, Chomein: A woman sorts flags of the Lebanese Hezbollah militia in a factory. Photo: Arne Immanuel Bansch/dpa
FILED - 27 October 2023, Iran, Chomein: A woman sorts flags of the Lebanese Hezbollah militia in a factory. Photo: Arne Immanuel Bansch/dpa

A Hezbollah official said on Friday the Lebanese armed group backed by Iran would not unilaterally launch its own attack on Israel in response to Israeli strikes on Iran.

"Hezbollah will not initiate its own attack on Israel in retaliation for Israel’s strikes," the official told Reuters. A public statement from Hezbollah condemned Israel’s strikes and expressed full solidarity with Iran.

A Hezbollah official said the strikes on Iran “threaten to ignite the region”, according to AFP.

Israel attacked Iran's capital early Friday in strikes that targeted the country's nuclear program and killed at least two top military officers, raising the potential for an all-out war between the two bitter Middle East adversaries.

The strikes came amid simmering tensions over Iran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program and appeared certain to trigger a reprisal.

Multiple sites around the country were hit, including Iran's main nuclear enrichment facility, where black smoke could be seen rising into the air.