China harassing shipping with east coast patrol: CGA

• Staff writer, with Reuters and CNA

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The China Coast Guard is harassing shipping off Taiwan’s east coast and trying to exert a fictional jurisdiction, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said, adding that it had sent ships to keep watch.

China has stepped up activity off the nation’s east coast since June, sending regular coast guard patrols, which Taiwanese officials said might be practice for a potential maritime blockade, which would use overlapping military, paramilitary and civilian assets.

Taipei regards the area off its east coast as critical to wartime supply routes in the event of a blockade or conflict.

The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) vessel, the Ji An, is pictured in an undated photograph.

Photo courtesy of the CGA

The CGA said it dispatched ships, including the Ji An (吉安), to monitor the area, adding that China’s patrols included the Chinese coast guard’s Hushi (CCG 1308) and Meishan (CCG 2303).

Chinese state media showed a video of a ship broadcasting a radio message saying that it was carrying out law enforcement and offering help should any be needed.

It did not say who the message was broadcast to, but showed footage of an unidentified fishing trawler.

The Republic of China (ROC) is a sovereign, independent country, and the ROC and the People’s Republic of China are not subordinate to each other, the CGA said.

China’s “attempts to harass ships at sea through radio communications are a clear expansion of power that violate international law, undermine regional peace and stability, and deviate from reality,” it said.

“Our country holds sovereign rights and jurisdiction over the exclusive economic zone east of Taiwan, and China has absolutely no jurisdiction over any of Taiwan’s waters,” it added.

China is spreading disinformation through political rhetoric, including referring to Taiwan as “China’s Taiwan Island” and describing its activities as “law enforcement patrols,” the CGA said.

The claims distort reality and would never be recognized by the international community, the CGA said, vowing to continue monitoring maritime activity, take all necessary measures to safeguard national sovereignty and ensure the security of Taiwanese waters.

China on Saturday sent another coast guard ship close to Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島), the CGA said.

Taiwan has so far this year “expelled” China Coast Guard vessels from Pratas waters 13 times, it added.

Security experts see Pratas as vulnerable to a Chinese attack due to its distance — more than 400km — from Taiwan.

Speaking at a security forum in Taipei on Saturday, Ocean Affairs Council specialist Pai Pang-ting (白邦廷) said that, while the Chinese People’s Liberation Army provides a high-visibility military presence, Beijing also uses its coast guard, research and fishing vessels to challenge Taiwan’s maritime law enforcement and administrative jurisdiction.

Beijing is seeking to portray repeated incursions as routine administrative management to gradually narrow Taiwan’s ability to exercise jurisdiction over its waters, Pai said.