Taiwan condemns China's vessel deployments near its waters

Taiwan on Wednesday condemned mainland China for deploying its government vessels to waters surrounding the self-ruled island, including off its east coast, in an apparent attempt to portray the Taiwan Strait as its internal waters by asserting jurisdiction.

Officials from the Coast Guard Administration, Defense Ministry, Foreign Ministry and the Mainland Affairs Council, which oversees cross-strait policies, made the remarks during a meeting of the legislature’s foreign affairs and defense committee in Taipei.

In June, authorities in China’s Fujian and Guangdong provinces conducted patrol and law enforcement operations in waters east of Taiwan after Japan and the Philippines agreed to begin maritime delimitation talks that Beijing said would infringe on its territorial sovereignty as well as rights and interests in the sea area.

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The Mainland Affairs Council said in a report that Beijing had exploited the situation to wage cognitive warfare aimed at creating the impression that it holds sovereignty over waters surrounding Taiwan.

Mainland China claims Taiwan as an inalienable part of its territory and has not ruled out the use of force to bring the island under its control.

The Foreign Ministry also accused Beijing of interfering with commercial vessels’ freedom of navigation in waters off Taiwan’s eastern coast, warning that such actions pose a serious threat to regional security and the international maritime order.

Hsieh Ching-chin, deputy director-general of the Coast Guard Administration, said in response to questions in parliament that if any Taiwanese vessels encounter such a situation, they should immediately notify Taiwan’s coast guard.

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READ: Taiwan says China maritime operation ‘provocative’

“They should ignore any inquiries from (mainland) China Coast Guard vessels,” he said, adding that if the situation becomes urgent, Taiwan Coast Guard vessels will try to separate the ships.

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Last week, the British, French and German representative offices in Taipei jointly expressed concern over Chinese activities in waters east of Taiwan, saying they “threaten regional stability, the freedom of navigation and the safety of international shipping.”

Cross-strait tensions have intensified since Taiwan President Lai Ching-te, whom Beijing condemns as a “separatist,” took office in 2024. The democratic island and the Communist-led mainland have been governed separately since 1949 due to a civil war. /dl

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