Taiwan accuses Chinese patrol ships of using radio calls to question merchant vessels off its east coast

Taiwan's coast guard said Chinese government ships patrolling off the island's east coast are using radio calls to harass passing merchant vessels, according to a Reuters report carried by The Hindu. The coast guard called the calls "a clear expansion of power" that violates international law. Taiwan News reported that Taiwanese patrol vessels intercepted calls in which Chinese ships questioned Liberia-flagged and Benin-flagged vessels more than 30 nautical miles east of Taiwan. Taiwanese ships then broadcast that China had no jurisdiction in the area and advised merchant crews to ignore the calls.

Beijing describes the same activity as policing. In late September, Xinhua reported that a China Coast Guard flotilla was conducting "regular law-enforcement patrols" in waters east of "China's Taiwan island." It said the flotilla had strengthened control of the area since September to protect navigation and the rights of Chinese people, "including Taiwan compatriots." A coast guard spokesman said patrols in waters under Chinese jurisdiction would continue. China does not accept Taiwan's claim that these are international waters outside Beijing's authority, and Taiwan does not accept Beijing's claim of jurisdiction.

Washington and its allies are responding. Secretary of State Marco Rubio criticized China's efforts to assert control in the South China Sea and its "coercive behavior" in the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea, as Japan and South Korea signed an Arctic cooperation pact. A new report from the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) says China could field directed-energy weapons in orbit by the end of the decade. The report is a US intelligence assessment and has not been independently confirmed.