Taiwan, US expand coast guard cooperation as China steps up maritime patrols

The US Coast Guard’s Mobile Training Team has arrived in Taiwan for joint training with the Taiwan Coast Guard Administration (CGA), a move that experts say signals strategic deterrence.

The cooperation

Taiwan’s CGA said on Aug. 14 that the US Coast Guard Mobile Training Team was in Taiwan to conduct a “Small Boat Operations: Team Deployment and Patrol” training program as part of ongoing efforts to deepen professional exchanges and enhance maritime law-enforcement and operational capabilities.

The CGA stated that by drawing on the practical experience and training methods of US instructors, the program aims to strengthen coast guard personnel’s skills in small-boat operations, team coordination and maritime patrols.

The CGA said it would continue to learn from and cooperate with the USCG in areas including vessel operations, maritime law enforcement, risk management and the use of advanced technology, as Taiwan faces an increasingly complex maritime law-enforcement environment and growing gray-zone challenges.

Since the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) signed a Memorandum of Understanding to Establish the Coast Guard Working Group (CGWG), the two sides have gradually developed a more comprehensive partnership, the CGA said. It added that Taiwan would seek to expand the benefits of the training and establish long-term, routine professional exchanges with the USCG.

The CGWG memorandum was signed in 2021, establishing a forum for AIT and TECRO to improve communication, cooperation and information sharing through their respective designated representatives. Cooperation has since included joint maritime search and rescue, efforts to combat smuggling, crime and illegal fishing, marine environmental protection and professional training, with the CGA saying the partnership contributes to maritime security, peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and Indo-Pacific. 

Waters east of Taiwan

Japan and the Philippines announced on May 28 that they would begin negotiations on the delimitation of their exclusive economic zones and continental shelves. The talks involve overlapping waters off Taiwan’s east coast, but neither Taiwan nor China is a party to the bilateral negotiations..

The development drew criticism from Beijing, which objected to the talks and subsequently sent coast guard vessels to conduct what it called law-enforcement activities in waters east of Taiwan. 

On July 31, the China Coast Guard announced that its Xiushan task group was conducting what it called routine law-enforcement patrols in waters east of Taiwan and that it would continue such operations. 

Before Beijing announced the routine patrols, AIT posted an undated photo on July 28 showing the Taiwan Coast Guard vessel Taipei and the US Coast Guard cutter Midgett sailing in formation. AIT said the two services were coordinating on shared maritime objectives, including maritime-resource preservation, countering illegal fishing and drug interdiction. 

On Aug. 13, while Taiwan was conducting its Han Kuang military exercises, four China Coast Guard vessels entered restricted waters around Kinmen. 

The CGA said the move was intended to spread false claims of Chinese jurisdiction. It said it dispatched patrol vessels under its contingency mechanism to monitor the Chinese vessels and drove the formation from the area. 

A symbol of Taiwan-US trust

Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), director of the Division of Defense Strategy and Resources at Taiwan’s Institute for National Defense and Security Research (INDSR), told TCN that the Mobile Training Team’s visit and joint training symbolize deepening mutual trust between Taiwan and the US.

Taiwan and the US already have mechanisms for cooperation in search and rescue, maritime training and other areas under the CGWG memorandum, Su said.

As China expands its coercive activities around Taiwan, AIT first released a photograph of Taiwan and US Coast Guard vessels sailing in formation, while the CGA has now publicized the arrival of USCG personnel for joint training in Taiwan, Su said.

“The signal of strategic deterrence is very clear,” he said.

Ma Chun-wei (馬準威), an assistant professor at Tamkang University’s Graduate Institute of International Affairs and Strategic Studies, expressed a similar view.

Ma said in an media interview that Washington hopes to deter China to some extent by strengthening Taiwan-US coast guard cooperation and publicizing it internationally.

“The message to China is that this is a collective defense environment and an area covered by mutual assurances among US allies and partners,” he said.

US efforts

Su said the deterrent message is primarily aimed at China’s expanding maritime activities. While its effects may not be immediate, Beijing could become more restrained as Taiwan and the US deepen cooperation on tactics and operational practices.

Washington’s gradual strengthening of the first island chain, including deployments and engagement by the Coast Guard in addition to the Navy, could produce medium- to long-term countervailing effects against China’s expansionist behavior, Su said. 

He cited the reported redeployment of six US Coast Guard fast-response cutters from the Middle East to the western Pacific as an important development. The cutters are operating from Singapore and the Philippines, with vessels rotating through Subic Bay. 

Taiwan’s strategic value

The first island chain, particularly Taiwan, sits along one of the world’s most important maritime transportation routes, Su said. 

Su noted that preventing China from treating waters around Taiwan as part of its sphere of influence — or even as its internal waters — is therefore important to surrounding countries.

This helps explain why other countries support maintaining the cross-strait status quo and push back against China’s expansionist behavior, Su said.

Australia and New Zealand have issued a joint statement emphasizing peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, while the US and the UK, French and German representative offices in Taiwan have separately raised concerns about Chinese maritime activity east of Taiwan. Su said the statements reflect the international backlash Beijing faces over its expanding maritime presence.