New Delhi: China was at the centre of two separate maritime incidents on Tuesday, with Beijing saying its forces tracked a US warship near a disputed reef in the South China Sea and Taiwan reporting a standoff with a Chinese coast guard vessel that had entered restricted waters near the Pratas Islands. The developments came as the chair of a US congressional commission warned that China’s growing maritime patrols around Taiwan could raise security risks in the region.
A Chinese spokesperson said in an official statement that the USS Charleston, a US littoral combat ship, entered waters near Xianbin Reef in the Spratly Islands without Beijing’s permission on Tuesday. Chinese forces tracked and monitored the ship. The statement accused the US of violating China’s sovereignty, threatening maritime security and undermining regional stability.
Reacting to the situation, a Philippine military spokesperson said the US ship had not entered Chinese territory and that no country could demand prior permission for lawful passage through international waters.
Sabina Shoal is disputed by China and the Philippines, which also contest sovereignty over the wider Spratly Islands. Last month, the Philippine coast guard accused a Chinese coast guard vessel of ramming a Philippine boat during a refuelling mission near the shoal. China blamed the collision on the Philippine side.
In a separate incident on Tuesday, Taiwan’s coast guard said a Chinese coast guard vessel entered restricted waters near the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands, which lie between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong. Taiwan dispatched its vessel Taichung to warn the Chinese ship away, Reuters reported. The two sides also exchanged radio messages over Taiwan’s status. The Chinese vessel rejected the existence of the Republic of China, Taiwan’s official name, while the Taiwanese ship said Taiwan was a sovereign and independent country. Taiwan said the standoff was continuing.
According to the Taipei Times, Randall Schriver, chair of the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, warned at a forum in Taipei that China’s regular coast guard patrols east of Taiwan were “highly destabilising”. He said Beijing could use these patrols to strengthen its territorial claims and described them as an extension of China’s legal, political and information warfare against Taiwan.
China has increased coast guard activity around Taiwan, including off its east coast, since June. Taiwanese officials suspect that the deployments, involving military, paramilitary and civilian vessels, could be part of preparations for a possible maritime blockade. Taiwan’s National Security Council secretary-general, Joseph Wu, said China had no legal claim to the waters east of the island. China’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Schriver’s remarks.
The developments have renewed concerns over Taiwan’s security and the risk of escalation in disputed waters. China claims Taiwan as its territory, although the island has its own elected government. The US remains Taiwan’s main international security partner and arms supplier, despite having no formal diplomatic ties with the island.
The United States president, Donald Trump, has yet to approve a proposed $14bn arms package for Taiwan. After meeting the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, in Beijing in May, Trump described arms sales to Taiwan as a “very good negotiating chip”. He approved $11bn in arms for Taiwan in December last year.
Schriver, a former US assistant secretary of defence, said Trump had generally supported arms sales and military training for Taiwan. He expected movement on the new package next year, given the possibility of further meetings between Trump and Xi at the APEC summit in China and the G20 summit in Florida. Schriver said the package could be divided or restructured through direct commercial sales and foreign military sales, adding that support remained in Congress and across much of the US government.