Taiwan is in talks with “certain countries” to conduct a joint humanitarian exercise within the Taiwan Strait to combat China’s “gray zone” tactics and legal warfare, Coast Guard Administration (CGA) Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽) said yesterday.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) yesterday asked what the coast guard is doing to address the force disparity in the Taiwan Strait when Beijing disguises Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy warships as part of the China Coast Guard.
Wang also asked what options the CGA have regarding Chinese ships stopping Taiwanese ships for inspections, and the possibility of improving such measures.
Photo courtesy of the Coast Guard Administration
Instituting a maritime lockdown would be considered an act of war, Hsieh said, adding that the coast guard is working closely with intelligence units and the navy to provide safe passage for Taiwanese ships.
The coast guard is prioritizing the protection of Taiwanese ships first, and extending protection to foreign ships sailing near Taiwan within a 24 nautical mile (44.4km) range, he said.
The CGA is mulling the possibility of developing air support, especially long-range reconnaissance capabilities, which would provide the service with much-needed time to react to Chinese incursions, he added.
Wang suggested that the best way to combat China’s “gray zone” tactics and legal warfare was to give China a taste of its own medicine by working with the US, Japan, the Philippines and Australia, and hosting a joint humanitarian rescue exercise in the Taiwan Strait.
Hsieh said that the coast guard and Ministry of Foreign Affairs are already in related talks with “certain nations.”
“It is true that rescues know no borders,” he said.
Separately, the CGA’s Kinmen-Matsu-Penghu branch dispatched four ships yesterday to monitor four China Coast Guard ships detected around Kinmen County while broadcasting messages for the Chinese ships to leave.
The four Chinese ships, bearing pennant numbers 14605, 14604, 14608 and 14521, sailed into restricted waters near Kinmen from the east and west, the CGA said.
The ships had left the area by 5pm, it said.
The CGA said there were 71 recorded incidents of Chinese ships’ incursions into the Kinmen area, and the branch is stepping up monitoring efforts, and hopes to increase deployment and reaction times to such incidents.
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