Chinese Coast Guard Vessels Enter Diaoyu Islands Waters, Recent Activities Near Taiwan and Japan Increase

(CNA, Shanghai, June 10) Chinese Coast Guard vessels entered the disputed waters of the Diaoyu Islands (known as Diaoyutai in Taiwan) on the 10th, claiming it was a "rights protection patrol." The Chinese Coast Guard has recently intensified activities in the waters around Taiwan and Japan. Earlier this month, it first intruded into waters east of Taiwan proper, and then entered the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) south of Japan's Yonaguni Island, asserting jurisdiction.

According to the Chinese Coast Guard's WeChat public account, on the 10th, the Chinese Coast Guard's Taizhou ship formation conducted a rights protection patrol in the "territorial waters" of the Diaoyu Islands and their affiliated islets. It stated, "This is a rights protection patrol activity carried out by the Chinese Coast Guard in accordance with the law."

Chinese Coast Guard vessels have recently been frequently active in the waters around Taiwan and Japan. Since Japan and the Philippines announced at the end of May that they would begin negotiations on the maritime boundary of their EEZ and continental shelf, the Chinese Coast Guard's Daishan ship formation began a patrol in the waters east of Taiwan proper on the 1st, claiming it was a countermeasure against the actions taken by Japan and the Philippines.

On the 3rd of this month, a Chinese Coast Guard vessel entered the EEZ south of Yonaguni Island in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, asserting jurisdiction in that area for the first time, and continued activities in the surrounding waters until the 8th.

The last time a Chinese Coast Guard vessel entered the waters of the Diaoyu Islands was on May 26, when the Chinese Coast Guard claimed to have driven away a Japanese fishing vessel, stating that the vessel had "illegally entered the territorial waters of China's Diaoyu Islands." (Editor: Yang Shengru)