China expands maritime pressure east of Taiwan

[Photo: Bloomberg]

China is extending its maritime presence to the waters east of Taiwan, opening a new front in its campaign to pressure the self-governing island, according to a Bloomberg report based on ship-tracking data.

Beijing’s maritime operations around Taiwan have traditionally concentrated on the Taiwan Strait, the heavily traveled waterway separating the island from mainland China. Since June, however, Chinese Coast Guard vessels have regularly appeared off Taiwan’s Pacific coast, an area strategically important to the United States and its regional allies.

China deployed an average of two Coast Guard cutters a month east of Taiwan beginning in June, Bloomberg reported. Ship-tracking records dating to January 2025 had not previously shown comparable patrols in the area.

The Chinese vessels covered approximately 27,100 square nautical miles, an area more than twice Taiwan’s size. They remained at least 30 nautical miles from the island’s eastern shoreline and outside waters claimed by Taipei.

Although the Taiwan Strait carries almost half of the world’s container fleet, Taiwan’s eastern waters are particularly important during a potential conflict. They connect the island with the Philippines and the wider Pacific and could provide routes for American and allied supplies.

The deeper waters are also suitable for submarine operations and underwater surveillance.

“If the Taiwan Strait is the front door,” Florida International University instructor Jing Ge told Bloomberg, the eastern waters have traditionally served as Taiwan’s back entrance. Beijing now wants to show that passage is “no longer uncontested,” she said.

Control of the eastern coast would be essential if China attempted to blockade Taiwan. Any interruption would also affect global commodity shipments. Bloomberg, citing MarineTraffic data, reported that ships carrying oil, natural gas, iron ore and agricultural goods made 527 transits through the area in June, compared with 420 through the Taiwan Strait.

China’s Coast Guard has characterized its deployments as “routine law-enforcement” operations intended to defend Beijing’s maritime rights.

Taiwan rejects that description. Its Coast Guard told Bloomberg that Beijing was using law-enforcement patrols to create a “new normal” for Chinese operations east of the island. Taiwan said it had promptly dispatched vessels in response.

The Coast Guard’s role has expanded since China introduced legislation in 2021 authorizing it to use weapons to defend territories and waters claimed by Beijing.

The latest eastern operations began June 1, when China dispatched the 5,000-ton Daishan and 3,000-ton Baita. Both had previously operated near the Japanese-administered Senkaku Islands, which Beijing claims as the Diaoyu Islands.

The deployments followed an announcement by Japan and the Philippines that they would begin negotiations to define their overlapping maritime boundaries. Beijing opposed those talks because the proposed boundaries affect waters also claimed by China.

Ryan Martinson of the US Naval War College told Bloomberg that Beijing was using the Japanese-Philippine announcement as justification for substantially increasing its regional presence.

Later in June, China sent the 10,000-ton Haixun 09 and 6,600-ton Haixun 06 around Taiwan in an unusual operation involving multiple government agencies. A deep-sea survey ship and a rescue vessel also participated.

Chinese state media said the ships questioned foreign commercial vessels and “inspected” 198 ships during the five-day mission, although the nature of those inspections was unclear.

Analysts said Beijing could gradually escalate such interactions by seeking information from foreign vessels and eventually issuing navigational instructions.

The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data monitoring group has also identified increased activity by Chinese research vessels traveling unusually slowly near undersea communications infrastructure east of Taiwan.

China subsequently replaced the Daishan and Baita with two other cutters, suggesting it intended to maintain a continuous presence.

A US congressional commission said using the Coast Guard enabled Beijing to avoid direct military confrontation while developing capabilities required for a future blockade.

Taiwan responded by conducting exercises on Orchid and Green islands in July, its first such drills there in 30 years. China later held exercises with Indonesia in the same region.

Analysts told Bloomberg that China was ultimately testing whether it could reshape international expectations over navigation and maritime authority in the western Pacific — a challenge that could require a coordinated international response.