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Alcott Wei

The United States has sent a team of coastguards to train their Taiwanese counterparts as Beijing steps up its presence east of the island.
Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration said on Friday that its personnel were taking part in a two-week training programme led by US instructors. The training, which started on Monday, includes exercises aimed at strengthening small-boat operations and team coordination.
“The US instruction team hopes to deepen the partnership between the two sides through joint training and work together to promote maritime security and stability,” the administration said.
It added that in an increasingly complex environment, frontline officers needed not only proficient boat-handling skills, but also better teamwork, on-the-spot judgment and the ability to respond to emergencies.
“Recently, the American Institute in Taiwan [the de facto US embassy] also released the achievements of Taiwan-US coastguard exchanges and cooperation, demonstrating the close and steady partnership between the two sides in maritime security and law enforcement,” the Coast Guard Administration said.
Last month, the institute posted an undated photo of a US coastguard ship alongside a Taiwanese one on social media and said the US and Taiwan were working together to coordinate search and rescue, disaster relief and maritime law enforcement operations.
Friday’s statement made no mention of Beijing, but mainland China has expanded its coastguard presence in waters east of the island in recent months.
It stepped up the deployments after Japan and the Philippines formally launched talks on June 1 to map out their exclusive economic zones and maritime boundaries. Beijing said the negotiations infringed on its maritime rights and territorial sovereignty.
Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China and has never renounced the use of force to achieve reunification.


Most countries, including the United States and its allies Japan and the Philippines, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, but Washington is opposed to any attempt to take the self-governed island by force and is committed to supplying it with weapons.
The number of People’s Liberation Army aircraft detected around the island in the first half of the year fell by half compared with the same period last year, according to a South China Morning Post tally based on data from Taiwan’s defence ministry.
But activities by China Coast Guard vessels, survey ships and other government vessels increased markedly.
The vessels were recorded as operating around Taiwan on 252 occasions in the first half of the year, an 89 per cent increase compared with the second half of last year. This included 110 incidents in the month of June, suggesting Beijing was seeking to normalise a permanent presence around the island.
On August 5, the Guangdong Maritime Safety Administration took the rare step of announcing traffic controls on vessels travelling north through the southern entrance of the Taiwan Strait, citing the risk from Typhoon Dolphin.
According to Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration, the latest training programme covers boat handling, risk handling, manoeuvres with other vessels and rescue operations.
It said the most important aspect was training instructors who would be able to pass on knowledge to their units and “broaden the benefits of the training and establish a foundation for long-term, regular professional exchanges”.


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China

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Two-week training programme follows a sharp increase in China Coast Guard operations around the island


Two-week training programme follows a sharp increase in China Coast Guard operations around the island.


China’s coastguard

US Coast Guard

United States

US team sent to Taiwan to train coastguards amid surge in mainland Chinese activity

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Two-week training programme follows a sharp increase in China Coast Guard operations around the island

Two-week training programme follows a sharp increase in China Coast Guard operations around the island