Taiwan and Japan are moving to normalize joint coast guard training and considering the inclusion of other allies, the Japanese Yomiuri Shimbun reported yesterday.
Both nations’ coast guards in June sent vessels to the seas south of the Sakishima Islands to conduct joint training, the report said, adding that it was the second joint maritime training exercise since the nations severed formal diplomatic ties in September 1972.
Japan dispatched the Nagoya Coast Guard’s Mizuho, a 134m, 6,000-tonne patrol vessel which can carry a helicopter, while the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) sent the 126m, 4,000-tonne Yunlin, one of its largest vessels, the report said.
Photo courtesy of the Coast Guard Administration
The vessels came close enough to visually identify each other and shared information to coordinate their operations, before the Mizuho continued on to conduct a joint training exercise with Malaysia, the report said.
The two nations’ coast guards also conducted a joint search-and-rescue exercise in waters south of Japan’s Boso Peninsula in July last year, it said, adding that Tokyo classifies this type of joint training as an exchange activity under memorandums of understanding (MOUs) related to maritime rescue, which were signed in 2017 and last year.
The two nations’ coast guards have also held private exchanges in Taipei and Tokyo over the past few years, deepening their collaboration, the report said.
The two sides are boosting cooperation in response to China’s increasing coercive actions in the East and South China seas, and waters around Taiwan, it said.
In Taipei, in response to media queries, the CGA yesterday said that Taipei and Tokyo representatives routinely collaborate on ocean governance under the Taiwan-Japan Maritime Affairs Cooperation Dialogue.
The two nations have also signed MOUs on issues such as search-and-rescue at sea and efforts to combat smuggling, in addition to other routine collaboration, the CGA said.
The joint exercise in June exemplified the kind of bilateral cooperation made possible by the dialogue, it said.
The Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association — whose Taipei office is Japan’s de facto embassy in Taiwan — had requested the Japan Coast Guard to hold the joint drills, which the latter granted, it said.
Sources said that the CGA employs liaison personnel in Tokyo and Naha in Japan, the Philippines and Indonesia to facilitate search-and-rescue missions and resolve fishing disputes.
The CGA has conducted joint patrols and exercises with counterparts in the US, Japan and Palau, but officials consistently downplay these activities to avoid political controversy, they said.
Taiwan-flagged offshore patrol vessels have been pictured refitting in harbor facilities at Tokyo Bay, the sources added.
Commenting on the report, Ocean Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) yesterday said: “We are gladdened by Japan’s willingness to disclose [bilateral cooperations].”
The joint exercises are commonly conducted in waters to the north of Japan, south of the Philippines and the South China Sea, she added.
Additional reporting by Feng Wei-li
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