《TAIPEI TIMES》 AIT hails joint coast guard operations

US and Taiwanese coast guard vessels sail together in an image released by the American Institute in Taiwan （AIT） yesterday. Photo from the AIT’s Facebook page

SIDE-BY-SIDE: The US appreciates Taiwan’s partnership in maritime security and safety, and supports its strong contributions to global maritime law enforcement, the AIT said

By Hung Ting-hung, Chen Yun and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporters, with staff writer and CNA

The American Institute in Taiwan （AIT） yesterday for the first time shared a photograph of Taiwanese and US coast guard vessels operating side-by-side, saying that the two sides conducted joint operations ranging from search-and-rescue to maritime law enforcement.

The Coast Guard Administration （CGA） and the US Coast Guard are “coordinating shared objectives such as search and rescue, preparing for tropical storms, disaster relief, preserving maritime resources, countering illegal fishing, and interdicting illegal drug shipments at sea,” the AIT said on Facebook.

“The US appreciates Taiwan’s partnership in maritime security and safety, and supports Taiwan’s meaningful contributions on global issues including maritime law enforcement exchange and international cooperation,” it added.

An undated photograph in the post showed the CGA patrol vessel Taipei and the US Coast Guard cutter Midgett sailing together.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, an expert on international relations said that the post was an implicit rebuke to China-directed encroachment into Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone.

The post followed a joint statement last month by the US, the UK, France and Germany condemning Beijing’s contravention of international maritime law in the surrounding waters of its neighbors, the source said.

Chinese claims over waters that Taiwan has administered peacefully for more than 70 years would only increase tensions and undermine the peaceful resolution of differences that China itself claims to seek, the AIT said at the time.

The institution’s latest remarks signaled to China and the global community at large that the US is opposed to Beijing’s bid to expand its territorial control, and emphasized the illegality of its unilateral actions around the First Island Chain, the source said.

They cast Taiwan as a partner in maintaining peace and stability as a partner of the international community, the expert said.

The CGA said that it continues to maintain close cooperation with the US Coast Guard under a memorandum of understanding signed by the two nations.

The agency continues to move toward a more comprehensive partnership on issues such as maritime search and rescue, combating smuggling and illegal fishing, marine environmental protection and professional training, it said in a news release.

It recently collaborated with the US to uncover a high-end chip smuggling case, preventing the chips from becoming a tool for authoritarian military expansion, the CGA said, without elaborating.

In a Facebook post, Ocean Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling （管碧玲） said that China, through "sham law enforcement, real harassment" operations, is undermining the international order based on international law and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and provoking regional peace. Under these circumstances, the content released by AIT is highly significant.

Kuan also stated that the AIT’s proactive release of the footage is a new measure demonstrating the US’s commitment to maintaining security and peace in the Western Pacific. It shows that the US truly understands that the Taiwan Coast Guard is the sole law enforcement agency in Taiwan’s waters, and that the Taiwan Coast Guard is the sole partner for US Coast Guard law enforcement cooperation in Taiwan’s waters.

On Jan. 30, Kuan posted on Facebook that AIT Director Raymond Greene and then-AIT Kaohsiung Branch chief Neil Gibson had toured the CGA vessel Yunlin.

“The momentous event marked the first time Greene set foot on a CGA ship,” Kuan said at the time.

“Thanks to Taiwan-US cooperation, the [Taiwan] coast guard possesses formidable aerial capabilities that enabled it to deploy special operations personnel at sea,” she said.

Bilateral collaboration has benefitted Taiwan and has strengthened the CGA, she said.

Citing an earlier joint operation, she said that Taiwanese and US coast guard personnel conducted a joint operation that interdicted 1.3 tonnes of narcotics, cementing the two nations’ strategic partnership against drugs.

Greene’s tour of the vessel represented the hope and promise of enduring Taiwan-US friendship, Kuan said.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES