Taiwan says Coast Guard would lead if Chinese maritime militia ships cross the line

TAIPEI - Taiwan's defence minister told lawmakers on Monday that the Coast Guard Administration would take the lead if Chinese maritime militia boats or China Coast Guard ships cross into areas where Taiwan says it enforces the law, with the Republic of China Navy providing help under existing support agreements.

Defence Minister Wellington Koo was answering questions in the Legislative Yuan Foreign and National Defense Committee after lawmakers pressed him on how Taiwan would respond if a Chinese maritime militia vessel entered the 12-nautical-mile zone. The questioning followed Reuters reporting that a Chinese militia fishing boat had been seen off Taiwan's east coast in August, the first known such sighting in those waters.

Kuomintang legislator Huang Chien-pin asked whether the navy or the coast guard would deliver the first response if a militia boat crossed the 12-nautical-mile line. Koo said Taiwan tracks maritime militia through coast-guard channels and military databases, and that joint intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance means are used to watch their movements.

Under the current division of labour, he said, any boundary-crossing by Chinese maritime militia boats or China Coast Guard ships would be handled first by the Coast Guard Administration as the main expulsion and law-enforcement agency. The navy would supply necessary assistance under support agreements rather than take the primary enforcement role.

Epoch Times reporting of the same hearing said Koo also described Chinese maritime militia boats as part of the same family of activity as China Coast Guard vessels and as an element of Chinese armed-forces exercises. If militia craft joined a Chinese military operation, he said, the defence ministry would work with the coast guard on the response.

According to that account of the Reuters disclosure, Taiwanese Apex Aviation surveillance in mid-August found a Chinese maritime militia fishing boat off Hualien, operating with a China Coast Guard cutter and a research ship. Officials have treated the east-coast grouping as coordinated harassment practice that uses law-enforcement and research cover to widen Beijing's routine presence.

Chinese maritime militia fleets, long familiar in South China Sea disputes, mix fishing vessels with crews that receive training and support to operate alongside coast-guard ships while keeping a civilian appearance. Putting Taiwan's coast guard first for militia and coast-guard crossings keeps the initial response in a law-enforcement frame while the navy remains available if the situation escalates.

Gray-zone pressure around Taiwan increasingly mixes navy warships, China Coast Guard cutters, research ships and militia fishing boats on routes that matter for wartime resupply to the island's east coast. Koo's answer sets a clear lead-agency rule for lawmakers who had asked who would fire the first shot if a militia boat crossed the line.

The same Legislative Yuan hearing covered pilot retention and other readiness themes, but the maritime-militia exchange was a direct statement of doctrine on gray-zone enforcement. TaiwanDefence will watch for any follow-on coast-guard or navy guidance that spells out the support agreements in more operational detail.