Overview
- China’s Coast Guard said it carried out law-enforcement patrols east of Taiwan in direct response to plans by Japan and the Philippines to open formal maritime boundary delimitation talks.
- Japan and the Philippines have announced they will begin negotiations to delimit their exclusive economic zone and continental shelf in accordance with international law.
- China’s foreign ministry has called those talks illegal for covering waters it claims and has publicly demanded Tokyo and Manila stop actions it says infringe on its rights.
- Taiwan’s foreign ministry denounced Beijing’s objections and continues to report near-daily Chinese naval and air operations near the island, including a recent coast guard stand-off near the Pratas Islands.
- The patrols heighten the risk of further coast guard and naval encounters in the region and could complicate diplomacy because Japan and the Philippines have not publicly detailed their next steps and Beijing has pledged continued monitoring.