Taiwan Slams China Coast Guard Patrols as 'Provocative'
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- Defence Minister Wellington Koo condemned the patrols in parliament as a 'provocative act' and 'cognitive warfare,' saying China was 'casting a large spider's web' to claim Taiwan's eastern waters as its own domain
- The Chinese deployment was triggered by Japan and the Philippines announcing formal talks last month on delimiting their maritime boundaries — talks China views as involving waters off Taiwan
- Taiwan's Coast Guard intercepted the four Chinese vessels and said it 'expelled' them from restricted waters by Sunday, with all four departing Taiwanese waters heading east in the early hours of Monday
- Chinese state media video captured a Chinese officer warning Taiwan's Coast Guard: 'Be aware of your language — the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are both part of one China'
- Kuan Bi-ling, head of Taiwan's Ocean Affairs Council, said since early May China has run a month-long campaign of 'escalating provocations' including operations around Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands and a research ship incursion
- Taiwan is separately monitoring the extended mission of Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning in the Western Pacific, currently in seas east of the Philippines, on top of near-daily Chinese air and naval activity around the island
Why it matters: Beijing's patrols were triggered not by anything Taipei did but by Japan-Philippines maritime boundary talks, meaning China is using coast guard power to project claims into waters Tokyo and Manila also contest. This adds a new eastern pressure vector beyond the near-daily air and naval operations already surrounding Taiwan, with carrier Liaoning also deployed in the Western Pacific.
