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🇸🇬 Singapore /Conflict & Security

Taiwan cheered by Western allies' alarm over Chinese Coast Guard activities

From The Straits Times · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • Taiwan thanked the U.S., Britain, France, and Germany for raising concerns over Chinese Coast Guard activities near the island's east coast.
  • The Chinese Coast Guard conducted operations in these waters, which Beijing claims as its own, citing a response to Japan-Philippines maritime talks.
  • Taiwan's National Security Council and Ocean Affairs Council emphasized the importance of freedom of navigation and condemned China's actions as violations of international law and threats to regional stability.

Taiwan has expressed gratitude to its Western allies for voicing alarm over recent Chinese Coast Guard activities in waters off the island's east coast. The United States, Britain, France, and Germany have all spoken out against what they describe as China's maritime expansionism.

A rules-based int’l order, the StatusQuo, & regional peace & stability are what we all care about. The PRC should stop its maritime expansionism.

— Joseph WuTaiwan's National Security Council Secretary-General thanking Western allies and criticizing China's actions.

In early June, China dispatched Coast Guard vessels into the waters east of Taiwan, labeling the operation a "special maritime traffic law-enforcement operation." Beijing stated this action was a response to maritime boundary talks announced by Japan and the Philippines, which China views as encroaching on its claimed waters near Taiwan. China has also been deploying maritime survey ships in the same area.

Joseph Wu, secretary-general of Taiwan's National Security Council, took to social media to thank the four nations. He stressed the importance of a "rules-based international order, the Status Quo, & regional peace & stability," urging the People's Republic of China to cease its maritime expansion.

China's maritime harassment of Taiwan, and the political pressure that follows, not only violate international law but also harm the shared interests of the international community. They must be promptly contained and collectively rejected.

— Taiwan's Ocean Affairs CouncilCondemning China's actions and emphasizing the need for international containment.

Taiwan's Ocean Affairs Council echoed these sentiments, asserting that freedom of navigation and maritime safety in the Taiwan Strait and surrounding waters are crucial for global trade. The council condemned China's actions as violations of international law that harm the international community's shared interests, calling for them to be "promptly contained and collectively rejected." Minister Kuan Bi-ling added that China's increasing harassment of Taiwan only strengthens international support for the island.

The more China harasses Taiwan, the more the international community supports Taiwan!

— Kuan Bi-lingMinister in charge of Taiwan's Ocean Affairs Council commenting on international solidarity.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by The Straits Times. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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