China patrols ‘deeply destabilizing’: US

The US government has described China dispatching coast guard vessels to waters east of Taiwan as “deeply destabilizing,” and called on Beijing to end its pressure campaign against Taipei. The China Coast Guard on Friday said a formation led by its vessel Xiushan (秀山艦) had intensified patrols in waters east of Taiwan. “Since July, the Xiushan task force has strengthened control over the relevant waters to effectively ensure orderly navigation and maritime activities,” China Coast Guard spokesperson Jiang Lue (姜略) said. Photo: Reuters The move aimed to safeguard the “legitimate rights and interests, as well as the lives and property, of fishers on both sides of the Taiwan Strait,” Jiang added. Commenting on China’s statement, an unnamed US Department of State spokesperson reiterated Washington’s concerns over Chinese patrols near Taiwan. “The US remains concerned by Chinese Coast Guard activity east of Taiwan. China’s actions are deeply destabilizing,” they said. “By asserting authority over maritime areas that Taiwan has peacefully administered for over 70 years, China only exacerbates tensions and undermines the peaceful resolution of issues that it claims to seek.” “We urge Beijing to cease its pressure against Taiwan and instead engage in meaningful dialogue with Taiwan’s democratically elected authorities,” the spokesperson said. China has since June been launching “special maritime law enforcement operations” in waters east of Taiwan in response to Japan-Philippine talks on maritime boundary delimitation in the area. The talks seriously infringed on China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights, Beijing said. The Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2016 ruled that China’s maritime claims over the South China Sea had no legal basis under international law. The Coast Guard Administration on Friday said it was closely monitoring China’s vessels with the 4,000-tonne Chiayi-class vessel Taipei (CG5005). Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday said he does not support any change to the “status quo” and opposes any coercive attempt to alter it. That position has been made clear in meetings with Chinese officials, he said, but acknowledged that Beijing has a different view and considers the issue highly sensitive. “Any conflict between the US and China, be it economic or military, God forbid, would be catastrophic for both countries and for the world,” Rubio said. “So, we have to manage that, but we can’t walk away or forfeit our national interest. So, this is the hard work of foreign policy, and it requires every administration to sort of balance these two competing tugs against us.” The world’s two most powerful countries must establish a relationship, maintain dialogue and reduce the risk of conflict as much as possible; otherwise, the consequences could be extremely serious, Rubio added. Taiwan has suspended visa processing for Moroccans in response to Morocco halting visa applications for Taiwanese travelers worldwide, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. The Moroccan embassy in Japan on Thursday last week informed Taiwanese travel agencies that it would suspend its visa confirmation letter application service for Taiwanese seeking to travel to Morocco, the ministry said in a statement. Taiwanese are required to obtain the letter before traveling to Morocco, the Bureau of Consular Affairs Web site says. Applications are submitted through the Moroccan embassy in Japan, which forwards them to Morocco for review. Once approved, the authorization MORE WORK AHEAD: Trains must be assembled when they arrive, and undergo static and dynamic testing, while operation-critical systems must be established, an official said Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) yesterday said it would implement its largest timetable overhaul in 20 years, including the introduction of “super express” trains linking northern and southern Taiwan without intermediate stops. The new timetable is scheduled to be announced in the fourth quarter of this year and could be implemented as early as the beginning of next year, it said. The last major timetable revision was in 2015, when stops in Miaoli, Changhua and Yunlin counties were added to select services. All 12 new N700ST trainsets are scheduled to enter service by September 2028, expanding the fleet to 46 from SIDE-BY-SIDE: The US appreciates Taiwan’s partnership in maritime security and safety, and supports its strong contributions to global maritime law enforcement, the AIT said The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) yesterday for the first time shared a photograph of Taiwanese and US coast guard vessels operating side-by-side, saying that the two sides conducted joint operations ranging from search-and-rescue to maritime law enforcement. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) and the US Coast Guard are “coordinating shared objectives such as search and rescue, preparing for tropical storms, disaster relief, preserving maritime resources, countering illegal fishing, and interdicting illegal drug shipments at sea,” the AIT said on Facebook. “The US appreciates Taiwan’s partnership in maritime security and safety, and supports Taiwan’s meaningful contributions on global issues including maritime law TARGETS: Taiwan has consistently planned for all possible scenarios involving Chinese action against the country and developed contingency measures, a major general said The Ministry of National Defense yesterday said it is monitoring the construction of full-scale replicas of military and government sites in Taiwan by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA). The comments from ministry spokesman Major General Sun Li-fang (孫立方) come after a report by the Telegraph on satellite imagery showing replicas of Taiwan’s Presidential Office Building, Suao Naval Base and other sites. Citing satellite imagery and defense analysts, the report, published on Sunday, said that the PLA had built life-size replicas of key government facilities to rehearse military operations under realistic conditions. The report described the scale and specificity of the training