China is opening a new front in its pressure campaign against Taiwan, sending ships to its east to drive home a political point: Beijing claims not only the island itself but also the seas around it.
The China Coast Guard announced on Saturday that its ships would conduct “law-enforcement patrols” in the Western Pacific waters east of Taiwan, a self-ruled island of 23 million people that Beijing claims as its territory.
The Western Pacific is crowded with commercial traffic and would be a vital arena if Beijing ever tried to blockade or invade Taiwan. China’s coast guard ships are often hulking, well-armed vessels that complement the country’s naval forces. They have been vital to Beijing’s efforts to dominate the disputed South China Sea, sometimes by swarming waters, ramming vessels or blasting crews with powerful water cannons.
During the patrols, the coast guard ships “will continue to strengthen law-enforcement patrols in waters under China’s jurisdiction and firmly safeguard China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests,” the China Coast Guard said on Saturday.
By Sunday, the two Chinese ships, the Xiushan and the Chongming, were between 80 and 140 miles off Taiwan’s east coast, said Ou Yu-fei, an official for Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration.
Chinese coast guard ships have operated east of Taiwan before, including as part of military exercises. The difference now is that the patrols are intensive and coordinated, and accompanied by declarations of a political intent, said Ray Powell, a former U.S. Air Force officer who is the director of SeaLight, a group that monitors and is critical of Chinese maritime pressure activities against its neighbors.
