TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan on Monday condemned China’s announcement of a special maritime traffic enforcement operation, with Defense Minister Wellington Koo (顧立雄) describing the move as a “provocative act” that infringes on Taiwan’s sovereignty.
Speaking before a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, Koo said the Ministry of National Defense and the Coast Guard Administration would strengthen intelligence sharing and coordination to safeguard Taiwan’s maritime security. “First, this is a provocative act, and second, it is cognitive warfare,” Koo said, according to CNA.
China announced Saturday that its Coast Guard would conduct a special maritime traffic enforcement operation in waters east of Taiwan. The move prompted immediate objections from Taiwan’s Coast Guard and Ocean Affairs Council, which said Beijing has no sovereign rights in the area and accused China of violating international law.
Koo said China’s assertion that waters east of Taiwan fall under its enforcement jurisdiction represents a serious infringement on Taiwan’s sovereignty. “They are attempting to first claim the eastern waters as their domain, like casting a large spider’s web over the area,” Koo said. “This is a serious affront to our national sovereignty,” per Reuters.
He added that Taiwan’s military would maintain close coordination with the Coast Guard through continuous intelligence sharing and a clear division of responsibilities under existing support agreements. Koo also said the armed forces would continue to monitor developments in the Taiwan Strait and broader military activity across the Indo-Pacific region, including the movements of China’s aircraft carrier Liaoning.
According to the Coast Guard, four Chinese government vessels — Haixun 06, Haixun 08, Haixun 09, and Donghai Rescue 113 — departed Xiamen on Sunday and headed toward waters southwest of Taiwan. Coast Guard vessels monitored the ships and issued warnings as they approached, per CNA.
The agency said it deployed five patrol vessels — Tamsui, Ji’an, Kaohsiung, Changbin, and Hualien — to forward positions and dispatched a 100-tonne patrol boat to the 24-nautical-mile (44.4-kilometer) zone to assist with monitoring operations. It said maritime traffic around the area continued without disruption.
In a statement Monday, the Coast Guard rejected China’s characterization of the operation, saying Beijing has no legal authority to conduct enforcement activities in waters east of Taiwan. It said Taiwan employed joint intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance measures to track the Chinese vessels throughout the operation.
Ocean Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) also criticized Beijing’s actions. In a Facebook post Sunday, she said China has conducted a month-long campaign of “escalating provocations” since early May.
Kuan cited Chinese operations near the Taiwan-controlled Dongsha Islands in the South China Sea, as well as the deployment of a Chinese research vessel into waters near Taiwan.
The Coast Guard said Chinese vessels, including the research ship Tongji and the survey vessel Hai Si Lu 6, have recently entered waters near Taiwan and the Dongsha Islands. It accused Beijing of using gray-zone tactics to create the appearance of exercising jurisdiction and attempting to alter the status quo in the Taiwan Strait.
