《TAIPEI TIMES》China intensifies activity around Taiwan: CGA

Two Chinese boats are pictured in an undated photograph. Photo courtesy of the Coast Guard Administration

WARTIME RISK: Increased Chinese vessel activity might be rehearsals on how to sever Taiwan’s Pacific supply lines from allies, local officials said

By Yimou Lee / Reuters, TAIPEI Taiwan detected a sharp rise in Chinese coast guard and research vessel activity around the nation last month, prompting Taipei to plan drills simulating Chinese escalations off its Pacific coast, the Coast Guard Administration （CGA） said.

Taiwan reported 55 Chinese government vessel sightings, including coast guard and research boats, around the nation last month, up from 30 in May, CGA data showed.

The sightings surged 83 percent from May and 120 percent from the 25 sightings a year earlier. The tally excluded sightings around Taiwan-controlled islands near the Chinese coast.

The figures underscore the growing role of China’s coast guard in Beijing’s latest pressure campaign against Taiwan, which angers Taipei and alarms some Western nations, including the US, the UK, France and Germany.

The Chinese military operates almost daily around Taiwan, but Beijing has increasingly used its coast guard to assert its territorial claims in what Taipei calls “lawfare” — efforts to create a legal basis for Chinese actions around the island.

Taiwanese officials said the activity points to a critical wartime risk: that Beijing might be rehearsing how to sever Taiwan’s Pacific supply lines from allies.

“If the situation escalates to a blockade — or what would already amount to a quasi-war — we have plans to work with the navy to jointly protect Taiwan’s lifeline sea routes,” a senior CGA official said at a briefing, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“We have anticipated this scenario not only through tabletop exercises, but also through live drills,” the official said.

The Chinese Ministry of National Defense and Taiwan Affairs Office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

A senior CGA official said that some Chinese coast guard ships had been converted from former naval destroyers and repainted for coast guard use, posing a heightened threat to Taiwanese coast guards because of their size, endurance and military capabilities.

Chinese coast guard vessels often operate in pairs just outside Taiwan’s economic waters in the Pacific, an expansive area, the official added.

“This places a major strain on the capacity of Taiwan’s coast guard vessels,” the official said.

A second senior official described the Chinese activity as “expansion” and an attempt to change the “status quo.”

China’s coast guard had broadcast questions to merchant vessels about port entry and exit information, putting pressure on commercial shipping even though no vessel had so far changed course, officials said.

Taiwan had broadcast back to the ships, telling them to maintain normal navigation and ignore Chinese interference.

“It knows it has no jurisdiction now, so it is trying to create something out of nothing,” said the second official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES