Recently, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) has shared on Facebook a photo showing a joint formation of the U.S. Coast Guard and the Taiwan Coast Guard Administration navigating together at sea. The AIT emphasized the close coordination between the two agencies in achieving various maritime objectives. The Taiwan Coast Guard Administration has acknowledged the remarkable effectiveness of the extensive cooperation between the two parties in the waters of the Taiwan Strait and the Western Pacific, moving towards becoming comprehensive cooperation partners.
As the typhoon season approaches, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Taiwan Coast Guard Administration are closely coordinating on multiple shared maritime goals, including search and rescue, tropical storm defense, disaster relief, marine resource conservation, combating illegal fishing, and intercepting maritime drug smuggling.
The AIT expressed gratitude for Taiwan’s partnership in maritime security and reiterated its continuous support for Taiwan’s substantial contributions to global issues, such as maritime law enforcement exchanges and international cooperation.
In June, the Chinese Coast Guard conducted a so-called “law enforcement patrol” in the waters off Eastern Taiwan, sparking concerns from the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. The government of the Republic of China strongly condemned this action, pointing out that China has no jurisdiction over these waters.
In accordance with the memorandum of understanding on coast guard cooperation signed between Taiwan and the United States, the Taiwan Coast Guard Administration continues to maintain close cooperation with the U.S. Coast Guard. The collaboration focuses on various issues such as joint maritime search and rescue, combating smuggling crimes, combating illegal fishing, marine environmental protection, and professional education and training. The interactions are continuously strengthened, advancing towards becoming all-encompassing partners in cooperation.
The Taiwan Coast Guard Administration mentioned a recent joint operation between the coast guards that successfully busted a high-level semiconductor smuggling case, preventing advanced chips from being used as tools for military authoritarian expansion. This incident further demonstrates the close partnership between Taiwan and the U.S. The wide-ranging cooperation between the two sides in the waters of the Taiwan Strait and the Western Pacific has not only enhanced law enforcement and response capabilities in the Indo-Pacific region but also ensured peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the Indo-Pacific region.
Commissioner of the Ocean Affairs Council of the Republic of China, Kuan Bi-ling, highlighted in a Facebook post the deep and wide-ranging cooperation between Taiwan and the U.S. coast guards. On January 30th of this year, she invited AIT Director Brent Christensen and former AIT Kaohsiung Branch Chief Alan Baker (already retired) to board the “Yunlin Ship” of the coast guard to write couplets and make dumplings. She emphasized back then, “Without Taiwan-U.S. cooperation, there would not be such a powerful coast guard today. With Taiwan-U.S. cooperation, the coast guard has a strong aerial capability and the most elite and resilient special operations forces at sea. This visible and concrete demonstration of Taiwan-U.S. cooperation truly showcases our strength.”
Kuan Bi-ling stated that at a time when the Chinese Communist Party is aggressively showcasing its disruptive tactics of “fake law enforcement, real harassment” to undermine the international order based on international law and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and provoke regional peace, the proactive release of images by the AIT is significant and represents a new commitment by the U.S. to maintain security and peace in the Western Pacific.
She further clarified that this disclosure fully demonstrates that the U.S. truly recognizes the Taiwan Coast Guard as the sole law enforcement agency in Taiwan’s waters, with the Taiwan Coast Guard being the only counterpart for law enforcement cooperation with the U.S. Coast Guard in Taiwan’s waters. She reiterated that from search and rescue, disaster relief, resource conservation to countering security issues like maritime drug smuggling, Taiwan is a reliable partner for the United States. The solidification of cooperation between the two coast guards contributes to maintaining and stabilizing maritime security in the Indo-Pacific and the global international order.