cross-posted from: mander.xyz/post/53878559
The Netherlands will not back down from regular military deployments to the Indo-Pacific despite a recent tense naval encounter with China, the country’s defense minister said, signaling that the incidents will not deter European engagement in the region.
“We are not here to seek a conflict, but we will keep coming back,” Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius told The Japan Times in an interview Monday following the arrival of Dutch frigate HNLMS De Ruyter in Tokyo for a three-day port call.
The guided-missile frigate was involved in an incident last month near the disputed Paracel Islands in the South China Sea, where the Chinese Navy reportedly subjected it to electronic interference.
The frigate continued its planned mission, later transiting the sensitive Taiwan Strait before arriving in Japan, but the event highlighted ongoing tensions between Chinese forces and foreign militaries operating in waters Beijing claims as its own.
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Yeşilgöz-Zegerius was unequivocal that such incidents would not prompt the Netherlands to scale back its Indo-Pacific engagement, insisting that Dutch naval operations are conducted in accordance with international law and the principle of freedom of navigation — and that the deployments are far from symbolic.
“For the Netherlands, it’s very important to send a frigate through this region every two years because the safety, security and economy of the Indo-Pacific are closely interlinked with those of the Netherlands and the rest of Europe,” she said.
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“If something were to happen here [in the Indo-Pacific], the effects would be felt acutely in Europe — even more so than in the Strait of Hormuz,” referring to the crucial Middle Eastern waterway that has remained largely closed amid the U.S. and Israeli war against Iran.
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The minister confirmed that Chinese officials had raised the naval encounter during bilateral and panel discussions at last month’s Shangri-La Dialogue security forum in Singapore, where Dutch military officials reaffirmed the legal basis for the transit while keeping the door open to dialogue.
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While encounters between Chinese, U.S. and regional forces in the South China Sea occur regularly, publicly acknowledged incidents involving European warships remain comparatively uncommon, making the De Ruyter episode one of the most visible Chinese-European military interactions in the region so far this year.
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