In brief
Taiwan's Coast Guard has warned that China's coast guard patrols off its east coast are harassing commercial shipping and attempting to assert jurisdiction, a move that Taiwan says undermines its sovereign rights and could signal a potential blockade. China has been conducting frequent patrols since June and recently moved a vessel near the Pratas Islands, which Taiwan has expelled from for the thirteenth time this year.
On November 1, Taiwan’s Coast Guard declared that a recent patrol by China’s Coast Guard off the island’s east coast was harassing shipping, threatening regional stability and violating international law, according to a statement released by the agency.
The Taipei-based agency said that during the patrol, two Chinese vessels were involved and that it had dispatched its own ships to monitor the activity. The coast guard noted that the Chinese ships had broadcast a radio message claiming they were carrying out law enforcement and offering assistance to any vessels, but the message was not directed at any identifiable ship and was accompanied by footage of an unnamed fishing trawler.
In the statement, Taiwan’s coast guard accused the Chinese ships of “attempts to harass ships at sea through radio communications” and said that the moves represented a “clear expansion of power that violate[s] international law, undermine[s] regional peace and stability, and deviate[s] from reality.”
China has stepped up coast guard activity off Taiwan’s east coast since June, according to reports from the Taipei agency. Beijing, which it claims is “engaged in commanding naval signa[l] as a so‐called act of law enforcement in the context that it is not a maritime country,” has reportedly used a mix of military, paramilitary and civilian assets in the area, which Taiwan says is a rehearsal for a potential maritime blockade.
During the 2022 patrol, the Chinese government also sent another Coast Guard vessel near the Pratas Islands, a group of uninhabited islets located between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong that are strategically significant in the South China Sea. Taiwan’s coast guard said it had expelled Chinese Coast Guard vessels from Pratas territorial waters 13 times this year, underscoring the island’s opposition to Beijing’s intrusion into what it claims as its exclusive economic zone.
Taiwan maintains that it holds sovereign rights and jurisdiction over the waters east of the island, a stance that China disputes. Beijing, on the other hand, recognizes no claims of independence or sovereignty by Taiwan and maintains that it is an integral part of its territory.
International law on the high seas and sovereign rights is invoked as a central point in Taiwan’s complaint. The coast guard’s assertion that the Chinese were exerting a fictional jurisdiction aligns with Taiwan’s claim that its exclusive economic zone lies beyond the reach of Chinese enforcement or interference, a claim held by most countries that recognize Taiwan’s de facto independence.
Shipping operators and maritime communities that traverse the east coast of Taiwan are directly affected by these patrols. The fear of a blockade, a threat that Taiwan takes seriously, could disrupt strategic supply routes for allied forces and commercial vessels that rely on the corridor for transit between regional ports.
Given that the east coast waters are critical for wartime supply routes from allies, Taiwan’s warning that China is overstepping its legal bounds carries wide ramifications for the island’s security environment and for the global shipping network that depends on the safe transit of cargo through the Taiwan Strait and surrounding waters.
In sum, Taiwan’s statement highlights a clash of sovereignty claims that threatens not only the daily commerce of ships in the region but also the broader framework of international maritime law, drawing attention to a fragile diplomatic balance that holds the risk of escalating into a more overt military confrontation if the protests are not addressed.
