Coast guard details China’s activities near Pratas

‘GRAY ZONE’ TACTICS: Persistent China Coast Guard patrols east of Taiwan are one of the most troubling recent developments, a US official said at a forum in Taipei

• Staff writer, with agencies

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Fifteen expulsions of Chinese vessels have been conducted on 12 separate occasions to remove them from waters near the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) so far this year, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday.

The comment came as a CGA vessel was locked in an ongoing standoff with a China Coast Guard ship after the latter sailed into restricted waters northeast of the Pratas early yesterday, the CGA said.

The CGA’s Taichung (台中艦) sailed alongside the Chinese vessel to monitor it and broadcast radio warnings to drive it away, the agency said.

The Chinese ship broadcast that “the so-called Republic of China does not exist,” while the Taiwanese ship broadcast back that “the Republic of China, Taiwan, is a sovereign and independent country,” the CGA said.

The Chinese ship was employing “dark ship” tactics by turning off its automatic identification system (AIS) to hide its location, prompting the immediate dispatch of the Taichung to intercept it, the CGA said.

China recently launched multi-point harassment operations around Taiwan using mixed groups of coast guard vessels, research ships and fishing boats, the agency said.

By turning off its AIS, intruding on Taiwan’s restricted waters and broadcasting “united front” rhetoric, Beijing is attempting to create a false illusion of jurisdiction through “fake law enforcement and real expansion of power,” undermining regional peace and stability, it said.

Separately, the chair of a US congressional commission yesterday said that China Coast Guard patrols to the east of Taiwan are “highly destabilizing” and an extension of Beijing’s legal, political and information warfare against Taipei.

Speaking at a forum in Taipei, Randall Schriver, chair of the US Congress’ US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, said that one of the most troubling recent developments he had seen was the idea of a persistent China Coast Guard patrol east of Taiwan.

While the idea of an ostensibly civilian vessel performing law enforcement duties could seem benign, it is an extension of Beijing’s sovereignty claim, he said.

“This is an extension of legal warfare and political and information warfare. This is highly destabilizing if they continue to operationalize this law enforcement role,” Schriver said.

Speaking at the same event, National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said that China has no legal claim to the waters to the east of Taiwan.