appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Gabriel Dominguez

Lawrence Chung

Taiwan’s transfer of a former coastguard vessel to the Philippines has triggered a dual controversy – raising concerns over the interests of Taiwanese fishermen and prompting strong criticism from Beijing.
The matter centres on a 61-metre (200-foot) retired cutter handed over to the Philippine Coast Guard through a non-governmental organisation on Monday, as Taipei and Manila expand practical maritime cooperation despite the absence of formal diplomatic ties.
Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) has condemned the move, accusing the island’s ruling party of ignoring infringements by Japan and the Philippines as they pursue maritime delimitation talks.
The Democratic Progressive Party had failed to protect the interests of the people of Taiwan and was instead “helping an evildoer do evil”, TAO spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian said on Wednesday.
The authorities’ conduct had increased the risk of harm to the interests of Taiwanese fishermen, she warned, describing the DPP’s action as “despicable”.


On Thursday, Taiwan’s cabinet-level Ocean Affairs Council defended the donation, with minister Kuan Bi-ling saying it was intended to strengthen regional maritime safety.
“The donation agreement contains comprehensive safeguards, explicitly stipulating that the donated vessel must not be used for law enforcement against Taiwanese fishing boats,” she said.
Kuan also rejected Beijing’s criticism on the matter, arguing that Taiwanese fishermen faced more immediate risks from mainland China and citing the boarding and detention of Taiwanese vessels.
Taipei says such incidents have taken place at least three times since 2024.
The We Protect Our Seas (WPS) Foundation, a Philippine non-profit organisation focused on maritime issues, said on Monday that it had formally donated the Taiwanese cutter, renamed Training Ship WPS, to the country’s coastguard.
The ship would be deployed to Mindanao for search and rescue, humanitarian assistance and disaster response, and marine environmental protection, WPS cited Philippine coastguard commandant Admiral Ronnie Gil Gavan as saying.
The foundation did not disclose the vessel’s origin or explain how it had acquired it.
However, a Philippine source confirmed to Taiwan’s official Central News Agency on Tuesday that the vessel was the decommissioned Taiwanese coastguard patrol ship Kinmen.
That corroborated earlier information obtained by the South China Morning Post that the retired cutter had been transferred to Manila from Taiwan.

The concerns over the donation reflect a long history of fisheries disputes between Taiwan and the Philippines.
In 2013, personnel aboard a Philippine coastguard vessel opened fire on the Taiwanese fishing boat Guang Da Xing No 28 in overlapping waters, killing one fisherman.
The shooting prompted Taipei to impose sanctions and step up fisheries-protection patrols, which subsequently led to a 2015 agreement to avoid the use of violence or unnecessary force in fisheries law enforcement.
Despite those efforts, tensions linger. Just last year, the Taiwanese fishing boat Sheng Yu Feng was boarded by Philippine personnel and taken to port.
The vessel and its crew were released without penalties the same day after a formal protest from Taipei, which said the boat had been fishing in waters where the two sides’ exclusive economic zones overlap.
Lawmakers from Taiwan’s main opposition party Kuomintang have also raised concerns about the Japan-Philippines maritime boundary talks, warning that the waters in question overlap directly with Taiwan’s claimed exclusive economic zone off its east coast.
KMT chairwoman Cheng Li-wun described the ship transfer as “rubbing salt into the wounds” of Taiwanese fishermen, while party legislator Hsu Yu-chen asked whether the vessel might ultimately be deployed in overlapping waters to board, pursue or expel Taiwanese fishing boats.
The DPP, however, has portrayed closer ties with Manila in a broader regional context.
Lawmaker Wang Ting-yu hailed the recent coastguard cooperation as a “historic breakthrough”, highlighting its strategic significance as both sides face growing grey-zone pressure from Beijing.


Zivon Wang, a military analyst at the Chinese Council of Advanced Policy Studies, a Taipei-based think tank, said geopolitics was the main reason Taipei was willing to proceed despite its history of fisheries disputes with Manila.
“The Philippines is part of the first island chain and an important link in constraining Beijing’s military expansion in the South China Sea,” Wang said, adding that the US had encouraged regional partners, including Japan and South Korea, to help strengthen Philippine capabilities.
“The United States is a major factor behind this,” Wang argued.
The transfer is unusual because previous recipients – including the Marshall Islands, Palau and Tuvalu – maintain diplomatic ties with Taipei, while the Philippines recognises Beijing and has no formal relations with Taiwan.
Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China and never ruled out the use of force to achieve reunification. Most countries, including the United States, Taiwan’s No 1 international backer, do not recognise the self-ruled island as an independent state. However, Washington is opposed to any attempt to take Taiwan by force and is committed to supplying it with weapons.
Taiwanese authorities have offered few details about the vessel transfer.
Marvin H. Bernardo, a Taiwan affairs researcher from the Philippines and PhD candidate at National Chengchi University, noted that the absence of formal diplomatic relations meant an intermediary was needed to facilitate the transfer.
“Given the sensitivity of Beijing to any form of engagement with Taiwan, which they interpret as a violation of the one-China policy, it was more politically expedient to go through an NGO,” he said.
The vessel transfer comes alongside other efforts by Taipei to expand contact with Manila.
Taiwanese Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung has confirmed plans to open a second representative office in Cebu – after Manila – to facilitate economic cooperation. Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration has also pledged to send 100 personnel to the Philippines for a goodwill port visit in October next year.


Max Lo, executive director of the Taipei-based Taiwan International Strategic Study Society, cautioned against interpreting the donation as evidence that relations had entered a fundamentally new phase.
“This is driven by geopolitical factors. It cannot really be described as Taiwan-Philippines friendship moving to a new stage,” Lo said.
He said Taipei was also seeking to show Washington that it was willing to contribute to broader regional security efforts.
At the same time, Lo said, Manila remained cautious about antagonising Beijing, making it unclear how far the Philippines would be prepared to cooperate with Taiwan in responding to pressure from mainland China.
Bernardo said the arrangement nevertheless indicated a willingness on the Philippine side to be more flexible in its engagement with Taiwan.


3 top reasons Trump will face a stronger Xi Jinping at November Apec forum in China

Why Taiwan’s coastguard vessel transfer to the Philippines has sparked a double outcry

Trump, Takaichi reaffirm US-Japan ties in phone call after Xi state visit

Xi-Trump atmospherics welcomed but mask structural rifts: analysts

Taiwan

Admiral Ronnie Gil Gavan (right), commandant of the Philippine Coast Guard, receives the formal deed of donation for the 61-metre vessel from WPS Foundation CEO Jeffrey Ordaniel, in Manila on September 21. Photo: Handout

The deed of donation formalising the transfer of the Training Ship WPS to the Philippine Coast Guard. Photo: Handout

Nearly half of Taiwanese lack confidence in US defence commitments, survey finds

Chinese President Xi Jinping (left) and US President Donald Trump shake hands after a visit to the Zhongnanhai leadership compound in Beijing on May 15. Photo: AP

Taiwanese soldiers prepare ammunition for a live-fire drill during the Han Kuang military exercise in Penghu on August 10. Photo: Reuters

AI war, Taiwan and translation: SCMP answers your questions from Xi-Trump summit

US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Oval Office of the White House. Photo: AP

 The South China Morning Post’s China Editor Wendy Wu.

Beijing ramps up coastguard patrols and scientific surveys near Taiwan

The coastguard said it would "continue to strengthen law enforcement patrols in waters under Chinese jurisdiction". Photo: Weibo/China Coast Guard

US coastguard sails into troubled waters with mission to counter China in Pacific

The US is redeploying coastguard ships from the Middle East to Southeast Asia. Photo: Handout

The US handed over two coastguard vessels to the Philippines last month. Photo: Handout

US weighs delaying Taiwan arms sales until after Apec and G20 summits

Sources say Chinese officials have privately pressed Washington to hold off on any new arms sales to Taipei before Chinese President Xi Jinping’s trip to Washington, echoing the same message they sent ahead of US President Donald Trump’s Beijing visit in May. Photo: AFP

News

China

Military

NGO-mediated transfer of retired cutter raises concerns given Taiwan-Manila fisheries disputes, as Beijing lashes out at ‘despicable’ deal


NGO-mediated transfer of retired cutter raises concerns given Taiwan-Manila fisheries disputes, as Beijing lashes out at ‘despicable’ deal.


Why Taiwan’s coastguard vessel transfer to the Philippines has sparked a double outcry

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}NGO-mediated transfer of retired cutter raises concerns given Taiwan-Manila fisheries disputes, as Beijing lashes out at ‘despicable’ deal

NGO-mediated transfer of retired cutter raises concerns given Taiwan-Manila fisheries disputes, as Beijing lashes out at ‘despicable’ deal