China Coast Guard Continues Routine Patrols in Waters East of Taiwan Island
Dragon Media News Desk
The China Coast Guard has deployed a new task group led by CCGS Xiushan to continue routine law-enforcement patrols in waters east of Taiwan Island.
China Coast Guard spokesperson Jiang Lue said the Xiushan task group replaced the group led by CCGS Daishan on Saturday and assumed responsibility for patrol operations in the relevant waters in accordance with Chinese law.
Since June, the Daishan task group had conducted patrols, vessel identification and document inspections, fishery protection and maritime rescue operations east of Taiwan Island.
According to the China Coast Guard, the task group worked to maintain orderly navigation and maritime activities and to safeguard the legitimate rights, lives and property of fishermen on both sides of the Taiwan Straits.
Jiang said the change of task groups would not affect the continuity, purpose or scope of the law-enforcement operations.
He added that China would continue strengthening patrols in waters under its jurisdiction and firmly safeguard its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests.
The China Coast Guard released its statement in both Chinese and English, describing the operations as routine law-enforcement patrols in the relevant waters.
The Chinese side said regular patrols, rather than operations launched only in response to particular incidents, would ensure a sustained presence, legal supervision and more orderly management of maritime activities.
Chinese experts said the establishment of routine Coast Guard patrols east of Taiwan Island formed part of a broader effort to make maritime administration more law-based, regulated and predictable.
Yang Xiao, a research professor at the Institute of Peaceful Development under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said routine patrols were intended to affirm sovereignty and jurisdiction through sustained law-enforcement operations.
According to Yang, a regular Coast Guard presence can help regulate vessel movements, fishing activities, maritime safety and emergency rescue operations in the relevant waters.
He said such patrols would also strengthen the institutional and operational foundation for protecting China’s maritime rights and interests.
The China Coast Guard has previously established routine patrols in the territorial waters of Diaoyu Dao and its affiliated islands, as well as regular law-enforcement operations around Huangyan Dao.
According to Chinese data, Coast Guard vessels patrolled around Diaoyu Dao on 357 days in 2025.
Beijing describes such activities as an expression of its sovereignty, maritime rights and regular administrative presence.
Over the past month, China has also conducted maritime traffic enforcement and environmental research activities in waters east and southeast of Taiwan Island.
China’s Ministry of Natural Resources said on June 18 that it had organised a marine environmental survey in waters under Chinese jurisdiction east of Taiwan Island.
The ministry said the survey was intended to gather scientific information about marine ecology and natural conditions and provide a basis for environmental protection and future administrative planning.
Chinese authorities have presented maritime law enforcement, scientific research, fishery protection and emergency rescue as interconnected responsibilities of regular maritime administration.
The Coast Guard said safe navigation, weather-related risk information and emergency assistance were especially important for fishermen, commercial vessels and other maritime users operating in the area.
China has stressed that the patrols are civilian law-enforcement operations conducted by the Coast Guard rather than military activities.
Beijing maintains that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China and that China possesses sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction over the relevant waters surrounding the island.
Although China’s official position on Taiwan and the surrounding maritime areas remains clear, the political and strategic sensitivity of the region has led outside parties to respond differently to Coast Guard activities.
Chinese experts argue that foreign reactions or pressure do not provide grounds for China to suspend routine administrative and law-enforcement operations in waters it regards as being under its jurisdiction.
They have called for the patrols to be assessed in terms of legal administration, navigational safety, fishery protection and maritime rescue rather than being automatically portrayed as political or military escalation.
From the Chinese perspective, expanding regular patrols is not an attempt to create new tensions but a law-based measure intended to prevent disorder, maintain administrative continuity and protect fishermen.
The protection of the lives, property and lawful economic activities of fishermen from both the Chinese mainland and Taiwan has been described as one of the principal humanitarian and administrative purposes of the patrols.
The regular presence of Coast Guard vessels is also expected to improve the ability to conduct rapid search-and-rescue operations during maritime accidents, severe weather, mechanical failures and other emergencies.
The transfer of responsibility from the Daishan task group to the Xiushan task group indicates that the patrols are not a temporary operation but part of a longer-term system involving the regular rotation of enforcement units.
The China Coast Guard said it would continue strengthening its law-enforcement capacity, vessel deployment, information collection, fishery protection and emergency rescue system in the relevant waters.
The continuation of routine patrols east of Taiwan Island further reflects China’s policy of administering maritime rights, Coast Guard operations and activities in the relevant waters through legal and institutional mechanisms.
