The Bundeswehr is preparing for two new foreign missions in Africa and Asia. According to SPIEGEL information France has asked Germany to participate in the construction of a new command unit in Mali. In the course of the mission "Tacouba" ("saber") Mali soldiers will be trained to special forces from next year.
The French plans foresee that the instructors accompany the units they train in military operations. This so-called "mentoring" is considered far more dangerous than the previous training missions of the Bundeswehr.
For the German contribution to the fight against terrorism in Mali, up to 500 German soldiers could be sent to the Bundeswehr, including trainers of the "Special Forces Command".
Still controversial is the plan to send a German frigate into the South China Sea or the 180-kilometer-wide strait between Taiwan and the Chinese mainland.
The Foreign Office had pushed the idea for the maritime mission according to SPIEGEL information, since Germany is currently sitting as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council and has also taken over the chairmanship of the North Korea Sanctions Committee by the end of the year.
The mission would be part of the sanctions monitoring, but also a signal to China, which claims the said waters for the most part, ignoring a judgment of the International Court of Arbitration in The Hague.
The chancellor's office wants to advance the Bundeswehr deployment according to SPIEGEL information, however, initially no further, because one does not want to burden the tense relations with China further.
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