Washington: China’s naval power is growing at an “explosive” pace, German navy chief Vice Adm. Kay-Achim Schoenbach told CNBC in an interview.
“Indeed… it’s explosive. Of course, I can understand the political leaders, of course, in China,” Schonbach said. “The question is if they fit into the international rules-based order.”
Schoenbach noted that China is increasing the size of its navy by the equivalent of the entire French navy every four years.
The interview comes as the German frigate Bayern is docked in Singapore as part of a six-month deployment to the Asia-Pacific. It is sailing through the South China Sea, where tensions have been running high over rival claims by China and its neighbors to parts of the Western Pacific.
In November, Schoenbach promised his country’s commitment to allies in confronting North Korea and a “threatening situation” in the western Pacific, in a thinly veiled hint at China.
