Taiwan pushes back at China patrols with Coast Guard trip for foreign lawmakers

Reuters:

ON BOARD THE TAIWAN COAST GUARD SHIP PP-10081, Taiwan Strait, July 9 (Reuters) – Taiwan’s government took a small group of foreign lawmakers ​on a Coast Guard ship around sensitive Taiwan-controlled islands next to the Chinese coast on Thursday, pushing back against China’s Coast Guard whose patrols have angered Taipei.

China views democratically ‌governed Taiwan as its own territory and recognises no claims of sovereignty or maritime jurisdiction by Taipei.

In 2024, China’s Coast Guard began regular patrols around Taiwan’s Kinmen islands, which face China’s Xiamen and Quanzhou cities, following the death of two Chinese nationals fleeing Taiwan’s Coast Guard after entering restricted waters.

Since last month, China’s Coast Guard has also patrolled in waters off Taiwan’s east coast in what it said was a “law enforcement” operation – a move that sparked concern in the U.S., Britain, France ​and Germany, and infuriated Taipei.

On board the Taiwan Coast Guard ship PP-10081 for a 90-minute tour in waters around the Kinmen islands were seven foreign lawmakers and two Taiwanese members of ​parliament.

The trip, believed to be the first of its kind, underscores Taiwan’s efforts to draw international attention to the dispute at a time when China’s ⁠expanding maritime patrols are testing Taiwan’s ability to defend its waters and raising alarm among some Western governments.