Key facts
- Taiwanese ships off the island's east coast should ignore boarding and inspection demands by China's Coast Guard.
- Taiwanese Coast Guard vessels will intervene to stop such actions if necessary.
- China conducted a "special maritime traffic law-enforcement operation" in waters off Taiwan's east coast last month.
- Taiwan asserts China has no jurisdiction in its waters.
- Taiwan reported Chinese coast guard ships harassed commercial shipping during patrols.
Taiwan has instructed its ships operating off the island's east coast to disregard any boarding and inspection demands from China's Coast Guard. Hsieh Ching-chin, deputy head of Taiwan's Coast Guard, stated on Wednesday that if an "incident" occurs, ships should notify Taiwan's Coast Guard and not comply with Chinese requests. He further added that Taiwanese Coast Guard vessels would intervene to separate ships if the situation is urgent. Hsieh emphasized that China has no jurisdiction in Taiwanese waters and that Taiwan would intervene to defend its national sovereignty and maintain order if foreign-registered ships within its waters received similar requests. China, which claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, conducted a "special maritime traffic law-enforcement operation" in the waters off Taiwan's east coast last month, which Taipei viewed as harassment of commercial shipping. During these patrols, Chinese coast guard ships reportedly asked for information about vessels' origin and destination, asserting jurisdiction. In a separate incident in 2024, Chinese coast guard personnel briefly boarded a Taiwanese tourist boat near Taiwan-controlled islands adjacent to China's coast. The patrols have raised concerns among the U.S., Britain, France, and Germany.