Executive Yuan: Chinese government vessels engage in 'fake law enforcement, real power expansion'; Taiwan will continue to deter with concrete actions

(Central News Agency, reporter Lai Yuzhen, Taipei, 11th) Following the announcement that Japan and the Philippines will initiate Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) negotiations, Chinese government vessels have used this as a pretext to harass Taiwan's eastern waters. The Executive Yuan stated today that the sovereignty of the Republic of China and the People's Republic of China are not subordinate to each other, and that China's continuous harassment of vessels freely navigating in waters surrounding Taiwan constitutes 'fake law enforcement, real power expansion.' Taiwan will continue to deter such actions with concrete measures.

The Coast Guard Administration previously stated that Chinese government vessels, under the pretext of the Japan-Philippines negotiations, recently broadcast inquiries to foreign commercial vessels in Taiwan's eastern waters, falsely claiming jurisdiction. These vessels were met with stern warnings from Taiwan's coast guard ships.

Executive Yuan Spokesperson Li Huizhi, presiding over a press conference after the Executive Yuan meeting, stated that China has recently been continuously harassing vessels freely navigating in surrounding waters. However, the sovereignty of the Republic of China and the People's Republic of China are not subordinate to each other, and China has no right to intervene in matters involving Taiwan's sovereignty or jurisdiction. She also called on the international community to jointly pay attention to China's provocative actions in the waters around the Taiwan Strait, which attempt to undermine regional peace and challenge the international order.

Li Huizhi said that Chinese maritime police vessels harassing foreign commercial ships transiting waters near Taiwan are acts of 'fake law enforcement, real power expansion' that undermine regional peace and stability. The government will continue to use joint intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance means to closely monitor the movements of Chinese government vessels and deter China's harassment of navigating vessels with concrete actions.

Regarding the Chinese government vessels' false claims of jurisdiction, Deputy Director-General of the Ocean Affairs Council's Coast Guard Administration, Hsieh Ching-chin, added that this is 'fake law enforcement, real harassment' and violates international law and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The Coast Guard Administration dispatched ships to monitor the situation throughout the process and forcefully drove them away, dismantling China's fabricated appearance of jurisdiction. Both sides broadcast to commercial cargo ships, and some of these ships responded.

Hsieh Ching-chin pointed out that China continuously uses gray-zone harassment and cognitive warfare to create a false appearance of jurisdiction. The Coast Guard Administration is fully prepared and will continue to take necessary measures to defend sovereignty.

Regarding the upcoming EEZ negotiations between Japan and the Philippines, Director-General of the Department of East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lin Chao-hung, explained at the press conference that, based on the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties and international judicial precedents, the delimitation negotiations between Japan and the Philippines and their outcomes will not affect Taiwan's sovereign rights and interests under international law and the law of the sea, nor will they affect existing cooperation agreements between Taiwan and Japan or the Philippines.

He stated that Taiwan has not requested to join the negotiations but has conveyed to Japan and the Philippines that if they conduct related negotiations in the future, they should fully consider the fact that Taiwan's rights and interests overlap in the relevant waters and maintain communication and consultation with Taiwan. 'As a party with rights and interests in the relevant waters, any consultations or negotiations between parties must not harm Taiwan's rights and interests,' he emphasized. (Editor: Wan Shuzhang) 1150611