Taiwan condemns China for enforcing laws in its EEZ near Diaoyutai

Taiwan has pushed back against China after Chinese government vessels broadcast regulatory warnings to foreign merchant ships in Taiwanese waters, calling the move a violation of international law.

According to Taiwanese media including Liberty Times and United Daily News, Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said Tuesday that China's harassment of foreign merchant ships in Taiwan's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) undermines regional peace and stability.

The MAC said China used ongoing negotiations between Japan and the Philippines over EEZ and continental shelf boundaries as a pretext to conduct enforcement operations against three foreign merchant vessels in waters under Taiwan's eastern jurisdiction, calling the actions a violation of international law and international conventions. The council said Taiwan's sovereign rights over its EEZ under domestic law, international law and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) are beyond doubt or dispute. "The Republic of China and the People's Republic of China are not subordinate to each other," the MAC said. "China's attempt to use this opportunity to expand the scope of its sovereignty will never succeed and cannot be tolerated."

The MAC also said Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration is safeguarding national sovereignty in the area and securing the safety of Taiwan's waters through close monitoring and concrete action.

Japan and the Philippines had declared at summit talks on May 28 that they would formally begin negotiations to delimit their respective EEZs and continental shelves. China responded by arguing that because the waters in question connect to the sea east of Taiwan, the two countries' negotiations infringe on China's EEZ and continental shelf rights.

China then dispatched five government vessels to assert influence in Taiwan's waters, including the Haixun 09, a 10,000-ton ocean-going command flagship. Around 11 a.m. Tuesday, the Chinese vessels approached three merchant ships sailing roughly 40 nautical miles (about 74 kilometers) east of Pengjia Islet — Taiwan's northernmost island, adjacent to the Diaoyutai Islands (known as the Senkaku Islands in Japan) — and conducted law enforcement activities, including asking the ships for port entry and departure information.