Taiwan monitors China Coast Guard ships off east coast

Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration said Thursday it had deployed vessels to monitor Chinese ships operating in waters east of Taiwan.

The CGA said it acted after the China Coast Guard announced another “routine law-enforcement patrol” off Taiwan's east coast. Taipei rejects Beijing's claim that Taiwan is part of China and Beijing's asserted jurisdiction over waters around the island.

As of 11:00 am on Thursday, two Chinese coast guard ships were “loitering and drifting” about 105 nautical miles and 74 nautical miles east of Green Island, the CGA said in a statement on X.

The Taiwanese coast guard accused China of pursuing “law enforcement in name, jurisdictional expansion in practice” and said it would take necessary measures to safeguard Taiwan's sovereignty and waters.

China carried out its first law enforcement patrol east of Taiwan in June. Taiwanese official data show Beijing deployed 244 coast guard, scientific research and other ships around Taiwan's main island in July, compared with 55 in June, 30 in May and 58 in July last year. In the first 21 days of August, 152 vessels were detected. The figures do not include Chinese warships, which China deploys around Taiwan on a near-daily basis.