The Taiwan Statebuilding Party yesterday called for ports calls to be established between the Taiwanese and US coast guards to help maintain peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.
The party’s proposal came hours before US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi was expected to arrive in Taipei.
Beijing has increasingly used maritime law enforcement as a pretext for expanding its sea power, party Secretary-General Wang Hsing-huan (王興煥) told a news conference in Taipei, citing China’s Maritime Police Law amendments and territorial claims over the Taiwan Strait.
The establishment of Taiwan-US ports calls would facilitate China’s containment by enabling coast guard ships from the US’ allies to anchor in Taiwanese ports, which could be utilized to secure Taiwan in gray-zone conflicts or outright war, he said.
Sea power is key to China’s hegemonic ambitions and it explains Beijing’s assertion of sovereignty claims over the waters surrounding the Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam, he said.
For Taiwan, the most threatening aspect of China’s bid for control of the seas is its ongoing efforts to transform the Taiwan Strait into its territorial waters, a project that involves redefining maritime laws and reforming its coast guard into a paramilitary organization, he said.
Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan would represent an opening for Taipei to pursue the ports of call scheme, he said, adding that the opportunity afforded by warming Taiwan-US ties should not go to waste.
The US appreciates Taiwan’s importance to the defense of the first island chain, as shown by the signing last year of a memorandum of understanding to establish a coast guard working group, Taiwan National Security Association deputy secretary-general Ho Cheng-hui (何澄輝) said.
Broadening bilateral cooperation would be key to managing conflict risks that lie outside the military domain, he said.
Citing the US Institute of Naval Studies’ launch of the Maritime Counterinsurgency Project in March, Ho said the US Navy has begun shifting its focus on improving its gray-zone capabilities in collaboration with its allies.
Taiwan should not allow itself to be left out of international cooperation in matters concerning maritime rescue, counterterrorism and environmental protection, he said.
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