China Coast Guard patrols to the east of Taiwan are "highly destabilizing" and an extension of Beijing's legal, political and information warfare against Taipei, the chair of a US congressional commission said today.
China, which claims Taiwan as its own and has never renounced the use of force to annex it, has stepped up activity off Taiwan’s east coast since June with regular coast guard patrols.
Officials in Taiwan say they believe China is practicing for a possible maritime blockade using overlapping military, paramilitary and civilian assets.
Photo: CNA
Speaking at a forum in Taipei, Randall Schriver, chair of the US Congress' US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, said that one of the most troubling recent developments he had seen was the idea of a persistent coast guard patrol east of Taiwan.
While the idea of an ostensibly civilian vessel performing law enforcement duties could seem benign, it is an extension of China's sovereignty claim, he said.
"This is an extension of legal warfare and political and information warfare. This is highly destabilizing if they continue to operationalize this law enforcement role," Schriver said.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Speaking at the same event, National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said that China has no legal claim to the waters to the east of Taiwan.
The US is Taiwan's most important international backer and arms supplier, despite the lack of formal diplomatic ties.
However, US President Donald Trump has yet to approve a new US$14 billion arms package for Taiwan, saying in May after meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in Beijing that such sales were a "very good negotiating chip." In December last year, Trump approved US$11 billion of arms for Taiwan.
Overall, Trump had a good record on approving weapons sales to Taiwan and providing military training, said Schriver, a former US assistant secretary of defense.
However, with Trump and Xi most likely due to meet twice more this year, at the APEC summit in China and the G20 in Florida, there would probably only be movement on the new package next year, he said.
"I think they'll find a way, whether it's splitting the package up or reimagining some of it as DCS or FMS," Schriver said, referring to direct commercial sales and foreign military sales.
"And I know that the support is there again in Congress and from much of the bureaucracy," he added.
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