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China increases law-enforcement vessel activity near Taiwan to record levels
Taiwan said mainland coastguard, survey and other official vessels were detected 118 times in the first 24 days of August, up from 117 in July and 111 in June.
Mainland China’s government vessel activity around Taiwan has hit record levels for a third straight month as Beijing expands its law-enforcement footprint east of the island, with the shift following an announcement in late May about Tokyo-Manila maritime boundary talks, according to the South China Morning Post.
Taiwan’s defence ministry said it detected mainland coastguard, survey and other official vessels a total of 118 times in the first 24 days of August, surpassing 117 detections in July and 111 in June, with the figures far higher than any month on record since Taiwan began releasing detection data in July 2024.
The SCMP cited an August 19 report by the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, which found a more sustained and assertive presence by mainland Chinese law-enforcement and survey vessels in waters east of Taiwan, based on commercial automatic identification system data.
AMTI said the activity between June and August was concentrated in areas where Chinese, Japanese and Philippine maritime claims overlap, and that almost no activity was observed there between January and late May, with two China Coast Guard vessels accounting for much of what was seen and a third patrolling since August 4.