Germany sent two warships to the Indo-Pacific region on Tuesday in a bid to strengthen its military presence in the region amid rising tensions between China and Taiwan and over the disputed South China Sea.

Those tensions were putting pressure on the freedom of navigation and free passage on trade routes, Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said at the northern German navy base in Wilhelmshaven.

Some 40% of Europe's foreign trade flows through the South China Sea.

"Looking the other way, showing no presence in the Indo-Pacific in support of the international rules-based order, that's not an option for Germany," he told reporters before the vessels departed. "Presence matters."

Beijing claims almost the entire South China Sea as its own, despite an international tribunal ruling that Beijing has no legal basis for these claims. China also claims democratically-governed Taiwan as its own territory, despite the latter's strong objections.