Tue, Aug 25, 2026 page2

• China ‘all bark, no bite’ in maritime incidents: source

  • By Chen Yun and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writer
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  Two Chinese maritime actions near Taiwan this month demonstrate Beijing’s efforts to expand its reach and challenge the international order, a national security source said yesterday.

  In the first action, China’s Guangdong Maritime Safety Administration said it would impose “traffic controls” on vessels in the Taiwan Strait during Typhoon Dolphin. In the second, Beijing held joint naval exercises with the Indonesian Navy east of Taiwan.

  In both incidents, China was “all bark and no bite,” using low-intensity actions and cognitive warfare as part of its broader efforts to expand its reach and challenge the international order, the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

  

  Indonesian Navy Martadinata-class guided missile frigate the KRI I Gusti Ngurah Rai (332) is pictured on Aug. 8.

  Photo: Screen grab from warship_cam’s X account sourced from X-@weiqi_xiulang

  On Aug. 5, Beijing announced “traffic controls” north and south of the Taiwan Strait, citing typhoon-related safety precautions, ordering vessels passing through the area to follow instructions from Chinese maritime authorities.

  However, the Taiwan Strait is international waters, and Beijing’s move openly challenged established international norms, including those under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, the source said.

  The Maritime and Port Bureau and Mainland Affairs Council condemned the move as an attempt by China to expand its authority, while the US Department of State said it opposed actions that interfered with freedom of navigation in the Taiwan Strait.

  In practice, the Chinese measures amounted to little more than maritime broadcasts and ended with the typhoon, the source said.

  A week later, on Aug. 12, China unilaterally announced that it had conducted a “joint exercise” with an Indonesian Navy destroyer in waters east of Taiwan.

  The Indonesian warship, the KRI I Gusti Ngurah Rai (332), was returning from Vladivostok, Russia, where it had participated in exercises with the Russian Navy, and later conducted drills with Japan near Tokyo, according to media reports.

  Indonesia said its vessel had merely conducted a “passing exercise” with the Chinese navy while returning home from Russia.

  The source said the China-Indonesia activities were essentially communication drills in which vessels exchange greetings and test communications procedures while passing in international waters.

  However, China deliberately portrayed the interactions as formal naval exercises, in an attempt to give the impression that Beijing has substantive jurisdiction over waters east of Taiwan and that Indonesia sides with China on issues related to Taiwan, the source said.

  Beijing also sought to use Indonesia to reinforce its position regarding overlapping maritime claims and disputed waters around Japan and the Philippines, they said.

  In both incidents, China sought to communicate the message that it is enforcing the law and maintaining a presence around Taiwan, they said.

  Beijing used low-intensity actions to wage high-profile cognitive warfare, testing boundaries and challenging international order while attempting to avoid provoking excessive backlash, they said.

  Following the incidents, the US made clear that it did not want China to undermine peace and stability in the region, while urging other countries not to amplify Beijing’s destabilizing narratives or endorse its unilateral actions, but instead to operate within the framework of international norms, the source said.

  The waterways around Taiwan constitute two of the world’s most important arteries for high-tech supply chains, making Beijing’s “gray zone” activities an “immediate and clear threat” to countries around the world, which is a key reason the US responded repeatedly within a short period, they said.
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