What is the European footprint in the region? Europe certainly also recognizes the economic benefits of engagement with China and the potential for fruitful cooperation on global challenges, but European views have become more attuned to security concerns surrounding China in recent years. It’s useful to remember that a European naval presence in the Indo-Pacific region is not new, but that these high-profile announcements are taking place in a new context in which Europe has more clearly recognized the security challenges posed by China’s rise and the threat to international rules and norms presented by its behavior in the South China Sea and elsewhere.

USIP’S Mirna Galic explains how these moves fit into Europe’s broader strategic presence in the region, the motivation behind the deployments and China’s reaction. Europe has more clearly recognized the security challenges posed by Beijing. Royal Navy destroyer HMS Daring in the South China Sea. naval presence in the region is well known, Europe’s has received much less attention - that is, until recently. And earlier this year, France deployed an amphibious ready group through the region - accompanied by the February revelation that a French nuclear attack submarine had completed passage through the South China Sea. has a highly publicized carrier strike group in the region, featuring the largest U.K. This follows the United Kingdom’s late July announcement that two of its warships would have a permanent presence in the Indo-Pacific.

A German frigate that left the country yesterday for the Indo-Pacific region will be Berlin’s first warship to cross the South China Sea in almost 20 years.

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