Taiwan Orders Ships to Ignore Chinese Coast Guard Inspections

Hsieh Ching-chin, Deputy Chief of Taiwan's Coast Guard, stated that vessels linked to the island nation must ignore any demands for boarding and inspection by the China Coast Guard, and if necessary, vessels from the Taiwanese public institution will intervene to prevent such incidents from occurring.

China, which considers democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, sent Coast Guard ships last month to waters off the country's east coast, 180 km east of the Asian giant, for what it called a "special maritime traffic law enforcement operation," which angered Taipei.

Beijing claimed the operation was in response to Japan and the Philippines' announcement that they would begin formal talks on their maritime borders, which the East Asian nation considered to involve Chinese waters off Taiwan.

Responding to questions from lawmakers in parliament, Hsieh Ching-chin noted that if an "incident" occurred in those waters, vessels should notify the Taiwanese Coast Guard and "not respond to so-called boarding inspections" by Chinese ships.

"If the situation is urgent, Coast Guard vessels will sail between the two ships to separate them," the senior official added, referring to vessels linked to Taiwan.

Hsieh pointed out that if a similar request were made to a foreign-flagged vessel within Taiwanese waters, then "in order to defend our national sovereignty and maintain order in our waters, we will intervene. In our waters, China has no jurisdiction," he added.

Neither Taiwan nor China reported requests for boarding of vessels during last month's Chinese patrol. However, Taiwan stated that China Coast Guard vessels "harassed" commercial shipping by asking for information about their origin and destination, while claiming jurisdiction.

In 2024, Chinese coast guard personnel briefly boarded a Taiwanese tourist vessel near islands under Taiwanese control located next to China's coast.

China's patrols off Taiwan's east coast have raised concerns in the United States, Britain, France, and Germany.

Taiwan states that last month's Chinese patrols are part of a broader pattern of harassment that demonstrates how Beijing is changing its tactics, moving away from purely military activity to focus on "gray zone" operations of a quasi-civilian nature.

In a written report to lawmakers, the Coast Guard noted that China now uses a variety of vessels, including oceanographic research ships, to conduct routine operations not only around Taiwan, but also in the Pratas Islands and Itu Aba, controlled by Taiwan in the South China Sea.

This "reflects a pattern of gray zone harassment that is multi-point, multi-form, and trans-regional across various maritime areas. We will take all necessary measures to defend national sovereignty and maritime security, and to ensure the freedom and safety of navigation for vessels," the document stated.