China Announces Maritime “Patrol” in waters east of Taiwan

A China Coast Guard (CCG) held this Saturday a new round of “routine law enforcement patrols” east of Taiwan, where Beijing has reinforced its presence in recent months despite Taipei protests.

Jiang Lue, CCG spokesperson, stated in a statement that the operational group led by the “Hushi” ship carried out the operation “in accordance with the law” in those waters, where it had been reinforcing activities since October to ensure “effectively” the order of navigation.

“The Coast Guard will continue to step up law enforcement patrols in the waters under its jurisdiction and will firmly defend China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests,” the spokesman added.

In response, the Taiwan Coast Guard Administration (CGA) reacted with the dispatch of the “Ji’an” ship and other vessels to “watch the whole process”, which qualified as “law enforcement simulation operation” and “true intimidation”.

“ Our country has sovereign rights and jurisdiction over the exclusive economic zone east of Taiwan, while China has no jurisdiction over any of Taiwan’s waters,” the body said in a statement.

China has strengthened the maritime presence around Taiwan by sending an increasing number of coastal guard vessels, scientific research vessels and other official vessels to the waters near the island and its peripheral archipelagos.

One of the busiest points is that of the waters east of Taiwan, a particularly strategic area, not only by harboring major maritime routes for world trade.

The Beijing authorities consider Taiwan an “inalienable part” of Chinese territory and do not rule out the use of force to take control of it, a stance rejected by the Taiwanese Government, which argues that only the 23 million inhabitants of the island have the right to decide their political future.