Germany sends troops to Australia in a first as Berlin shifts focus to Indo-Pacific
Germany will, for the first time, send troops to Australia for joint drills with some 30,000 service members from 12 other nations, underlining Berlin's increased focus on the Indo-Pacific amid rising tensions with China in the region.
"It is a region of extremely high importance, for us in Germany as well as for the European Union, due to the economic interdependencies," Army Chief Alfons Mais told Reuters in an interview published on Monday, hours before the first German troops were to leave for Australia.
In recent years, Germany has shown a greater military presence in the Indo-Pacific region, even as this means walking a tightrope between its security and economic interests as China is Berlin's most important trading partner. In 2021, a German warship sailed into the South China Sea for the first time in almost 20 years. Last year, Berlin sent 13 military aircraft to joint exercises in Australia, the air force's largest peacetime deployment.
Mais said up to 240 German soldiers, among them 170 paratroopers and 40 marines, will take part in the exercise Talisman Sabre from July 22 to August 4, the largest drills between Australia and the U.S. which are held bi-annually.
The Germans will train jungle warfare and landing operations alongside soldiers from countries such as Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, France and Britain.
When asked what message the first deployment of German troops to Australia was meant to send to China, he underscored Berlin did not aim to antagonize anybody: "It generally makes sense to get to know the perspective others have upon the world," said the lieutenant general, adding the security challenges today were much less clear-cut than before 1990.
Mais plans to visit the Germlan troops in Australia and a Rheinmetall plant assembling Boxer armoured transport vehicles for both armies in mid-July, before traveling on to Japan and Singapore.
"Japan is a partner that holds a lot of potential for a deepening of our bilateral military cooperation," he said. As for Talisman Sabre, the German troops already have orders to return to Australia for the next exercise in 2025.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea as its own, despite an international tribunal ruling that Beijing has no legal basis for these claims and has built military outposts on artificial islands in the waters that contain gas fields and rich fishing. Some 40% of Europe's foreign trade flows through the South China Sea.
Reuters
