BY EMMANUEL OGBONNA
China on Saturday announced the launch of a new coast guard patrol in waters east of Taiwan, escalating tensions across the Taiwan Strait and drawing an immediate and forceful response from Taipei, which condemned the operation as an illegal assertion of authority and a threat to regional peace and stability.
The latest patrol marks another step in Beijing’s expanding use of its coast guard to reinforce its territorial claims around Taiwan. While China’s military has maintained a near-daily presence around the self-governed island through air and naval operations, Chinese authorities have increasingly relied on coast guard vessels to carry out what they describe as law enforcement missions in waters they consider to be under Chinese jurisdiction.
In a statement, China’s Coast Guard said the patrol was intended to conduct law enforcement operations in what it described as China’s jurisdictional waters. Officials said such missions would become more frequent as part of efforts to protect what Beijing considers its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights.
According to the statement, the coast guard will continue strengthening patrols in the area while carrying out duties aimed at safeguarding China’s maritime interests. Beijing maintains that Taiwan is part of its territory and insists it has the legal authority to operate in waters surrounding the island despite strong objections from Taipei.
Taiwan’s government swiftly rejected China’s claims, describing the operation as an unlawful expansion of Chinese power that violates international law and undermines stability across the Indo-Pacific region.
Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council, the government agency responsible for relations with China, issued a strongly worded statement accusing Beijing of attempting to create a false legal basis for its actions.
The council said China has no sovereignty, jurisdiction, or law enforcement authority in the waters east of Taiwan. It stressed that the Chinese government has no legal right to conduct official operations in those waters and warned that such activities represent a direct challenge to international norms governing freedom of navigation.
Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration confirmed that it had been closely monitoring the movement of two Chinese coast guard vessels involved in the patrol. In response, Taiwan dispatched two of its own coast guard ships to shadow the Chinese vessels and monitor their activities throughout the operation.
Officials said that by mid-morning the Chinese ships were operating approximately 54 nautical miles east of the city of Hualien, an important location on Taiwan’s eastern coast that is home to one of the island’s major military air bases. Although the Chinese vessels remained outside Taiwan’s restricted waters, authorities said they would continue to monitor every movement closely.
Taiwan’s Coast Guard pledged to remain vigilant and stated that it would employ all necessary measures to prevent Chinese vessels from interfering with Taiwan’s maritime security. Officials reiterated that the agency remains committed to defending Taiwan’s sovereignty, protecting its territorial waters, and ensuring the safety of its maritime domains.
The patrol is the second such operation carried out by China off Taiwan’s eastern coastline within roughly a month. The growing frequency of these missions has heightened concerns among regional governments and Western allies, who view the operations as part of Beijing’s broader effort to increase pressure on Taiwan without resorting to direct military conflict.
Taiwan has repeatedly accused China of using legal and administrative measures, sometimes referred to as “lawfare,” to support its territorial claims. According to Taiwanese officials, these actions are designed to create the appearance of legitimate legal authority while gradually expanding China’s influence around the island.
The previous coast guard mission conducted in June attracted international attention after China said it was responding to plans by Japan and the Philippines to begin formal discussions on maritime boundaries. Beijing argued that those talks involved waters it considers to be connected to Chinese territorial claims near Taiwan.
The operation raised concerns among several Western governments, including the United States, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, which have expressed increasing unease over China’s expanding activities in the Taiwan Strait and surrounding waters.
Earlier this week, Taiwan instructed its commercial and government vessels operating off the island’s eastern coast to reject any attempts by the Chinese Coast Guard to board or inspect them. Authorities said that if Chinese vessels attempted such actions, Taiwan’s Coast Guard would intervene to prevent them and ensure the safety of ships operating under Taiwan’s jurisdiction.
The dispute reflects the sharply differing positions held by Beijing and Taipei regarding Taiwan’s status. China continues to maintain that Taiwan is an inseparable part of its territory and rejects any suggestion that the island possesses independent sovereignty. Taiwan, meanwhile, insists that the People’s Republic of China has never exercised authority over the island and therefore has no legal basis to claim jurisdiction over Taiwan or its surrounding waters.
Adding another dimension to the dispute, China’s Ministry of Natural Resources published an English-language legal opinion on Thursday concerning planned maritime boundary discussions between Japan and the Philippines. The document argued that both countries should negotiate directly with Beijing on issues involving waters claimed by China rather than engaging with Taiwan.
The opinion further urged other governments not to support Japan and the Philippines in negotiations that Beijing believes involve disputed maritime areas connected to its claims around Taiwan.
The latest coast guard deployment underscores the increasingly complex maritime tensions in the western Pacific, where competing territorial claims, military activities, and diplomatic disagreements continue to test regional security. With both Beijing and Taipei standing firmly by their positions, the possibility of further confrontations at sea remains a significant concern for neighboring countries and the broader international community.
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