![\"reuters](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/reuters_logo.jpg\"){kind=logo}
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
BERLIN, Aug 17 (Reuters)\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Germany\u2019s foreign minister on Sunday criticised what he called the \u201caggressive behaviour\u201d of\u00a0China\u00a0in the Taiwan Strait<\/a> ahead of a trip to Japan and Indonesia, and stressed the need to strengthen internationally binding rules.<\/p>\n Speaking to reporters, Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul praised Japan\u2019s solidarity with Europe over\u00a0Ukraine\u00a0as he prepared to board a plane, and highlighted the importance and economic potential of the two populous Asian countries.<\/p>\n His ministry also published a separate statement from Wadephul in which he expressed concern about\u00a0China.<\/p>\n \u201cChina\u2019s increasingly aggressive behaviour in the Taiwan Strait<\/a> and the East and\u00a0South\u00a0China\u00a0Seas<\/a> also affects us in Europe: fundamental principles of our global co-existence are at stake here,\u201d the minister said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are countering this together through our commitment to an international order, which is supported by the strength of the law and binding rules for all.\u201d<\/p>\n Tensions have simmered between\u00a0China\u00a0and other powers in the Asia-Pacific region over territorial claims.<\/p>\n Earlier\u00a0this week\u00a0the Chinese military said it monitored and \u201cdrove away\u201d a U.S. destroyer<\/a> that sailed near the disputed Scarborough Shoal in theSouth\u00a0China\u00a0Sea, while the U.S. Navy said its action was in line with international law.<\/p>\n Wadephul\u2019s criticism of\u00a0China\u00a0comes as Chancellor Friedrich Merz\u00a0prepares to join\u00a0Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy at a meeting with U.S. President\u00a0Donald Trump\u00a0in Washington that aims to work towards a peace settlement in Ukraine.<\/p>\n
![\"logo\"\/](\"https:\/\/gcaptain.com\/wp-content\/themes\/gCaptain-Theme\/assets\/images\/gcaptain-new-gray-logo.svg\"){kind=logo}