Taiwan coast guard escorts foreign lawmakers

Taiwan’s government took a group of foreign lawmakers aboard a coast guard vessel near the Taiwan-controlled Kinmen islands on Thursday, using the visit to spotlight Chinese maritime patrols that Taipei says are eroding its control of nearby waters. The 90-minute trip took place on patrol ship PP-10081 around Kinmen, a frontline island group just off the Chinese coast, according to Reuters. The delegation included seven foreign lawmakers and two Taiwanese members of parliament. The visit came days after China said it had launched another coast guard patrol east of Taiwan. ### Why did Taiwan put foreign lawmakers on a coast guard ship near Kinmen? Taiwan’s foreign ministry and Ocean Affairs Council organized the trip as China expands coast guard activity around Taiwan-controlled waters, Reuters reported. Beijing claims Taiwan as its own territory and does not recognize Taipei’s sovereignty or maritime jurisdiction. Since 2024, China’s coast guard has carried out regular patrols around Kinmen after two Chinese nationals died while fleeing Taiwan’s coast guard following an incursion into restricted waters, according to Reuters. Those patrols have become one of the clearest examples of how Beijing is pressing its claims without using naval combat ships. ### Who was on board, and what did they say? Britain’s Tom Tugendhat, a former security minister, was among the lawmakers on the vessel, Reuters reported. He told Reuters from the ship that being in waters claimed by China was an important show of support for Taiwan. “I’m in Taiwan. I’m in Taiwanese waters,” Tugendhat said, according to Reuters. He added that the trip was about “defending the international rules-based system” that Beijing says it supports. Reuters reported that the other visitors included two more British lawmakers and one lawmaker each from Ukraine, the Czech Republic, India and New Zealand. The group belonged to the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, a cross-party network of lawmakers focused on China policy. ### What has China been doing off Taiwan’s east coast? China said on July 4 that it had launched a new coast guard patrol east of Taiwan in what it called a “law enforcement” operation. China’s coast guard said the fleet would strengthen such patrols in what it described as China’s jurisdictional waters. (usnews.com) Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council said that move was an “illegal expansion of power in violation of international law and a disruption of regional stability,” according to Reuters. Taiwan’s coast guard said at the time it was tracking two Chinese ships and had prepositioned two of its own vessels to monitor them 54 nautical miles east of Hualien. (usnews.com) ### Why are Kinmen and the east coast both part of this story? Kinmen sits close to the Chinese cities of Xiamen and Quanzhou, making it one of the most sensitive points in the Taiwan Strait. Reuters reported that confrontations there usually amount to radio exchanges and verbal sparring rather than armed incidents. (usnews.com) Taiwan’s east coast is farther from the narrow strait and faces the Pacific, which is why China’s recent patrols there drew added concern in Taipei and from Western governments. Reuters reported that the United States, Britain, France and Germany had raised concern over those east-coast operations. (usnews.com) ### What comes next? Taiwan’s coast guard said on July 4 that it would “continue to employ all necessary measures” against Chinese vessels it says are harassing its waters, according to Reuters. China, for its part, said it would keep up coast guard patrols east of Taiwan. (usnews.com) July 9’s Kinmen trip gives Taiwan another public example to present to visiting lawmakers as those patrols continue. The next test will be whether China sustains both its regular Kinmen operations and its newer east-coast patrols in the weeks ahead. (usnews.com)