Taiwan’s coast guard said on Sunday it had deployed ships “to respond appropriately” to a Chinese operation in waters east of the island democracy, which it said “violated international law”.
It comes after Chinese state media reported on Saturday that the “law enforcement operation” was in response to talks between Japan and the Philippines to establish a boundary in the affected waters.
China, which claims Taiwan as part of its territory, has called the talks “illegal” and has claimed exclusive control over the waters.
Chinese vessels have been monitored “throughout the process” and Taiwan has “deployed the necessary vessels to respond appropriately,” the Taiwanese coast guard said in a statement.
Taiwan said it had detected four Chinese government ships departing from the port of Xiamen that had sailed outside Taiwanese restricted waters southwest of the island.
Taiwan’s coast guard sent more than five vessels “to assist in surveillance.”
Chinese ships were expected to arrive “in relevant waters” on Sunday, the statement said, adding that “China does not enjoy any sovereign rights in waters east of Taiwan.”
Tokyo and Manila said last month they would begin formal talks “to delimit the maritime boundary” of an economic zone and continental shelf between them, angering Beijing.
On Saturday, Beijing’s transport ministry organized maritime police from the coastal provinces of Fujian and Guangdong to “conduct a special maritime traffic law enforcement operation in the waters east of Taiwan Island,” state news agency Xinhua said.
The report did not provide details on the operation, including how long it lasted or whether it was still ongoing, and did not say whether maritime police had sent ships to the area.
The operation was “a necessary action taken against the unilateral announcement by Japan and the Philippines that they would start “negotiations on delimiting a maritime border” near Taiwan, Xinhua added.
Taiwan said on Wednesday that it should be consulted on the Japan-Philippines talks.
Manila and Tokyo’s joint grievances over Chinese maritime territorial claims have drawn them closer and closer in recent years.
Japan and China are at territorial and economic disputes in the East China Sea, where coast guard ships from both sides regularly stage tense clashes.
Meanwhile, Beijing has deployed navy and coast guard ships to the South China Sea in an attempt to bar the Philippines from strategically important reefs and islands, leading to a series of confrontations.
Taiwan’s coast guard said on Saturday that a Chinese research vessel had joined a coast guard vessel in the waters around Pratas Island in the northern part of the South China Sea.
Taiwan’s coast guard said it was “the first observed case of Chinese coast guards and survey vessels acting in coordination to provoke Taiwan.”
Taiwan controls Pratas, but Beijing also claims the island, along with much of the strategic waterway.
