US condemns PLA militia boat sighting off Taiwan east coast as deeply destabilizing

The US State Department on Thursday called Chinese activity east of Taiwan deeply destabilizing after Taiwanese and foreign reporting confirmed that a People's Liberation Army maritime militia fishing boat had been tracked off Hualien in August alongside a China Coast Guard cutter and a research ship, a formation Taiwan's defence ministry links to gray-zone harassment and blockade practice.

Speaking on background by email to Central News Agency, a State Department spokesperson said Washington remains concerned by China's activity east of Taiwan. The spokesperson said China's actions are deeply destabilizing, and that by asserting authorities around maritime areas Taiwan has peacefully administered for more than 70 years, China only exacerbates tensions and undermines the peaceful resolution of issues it claims to seek. The spokesperson urged Beijing to stop pressuring Taiwan and to engage in meaningful dialogue with its democratically elected authorities.

CNA sought the comment after Reuters reported that Apex Aviation, a Taiwanese firm flying civilian reconnaissance patrols, identified Minfudingyu 07902 as a fishing boat that doubles as a Chinese maritime militia craft more than 30 nautical miles off Hualien in mid-August. The Straits Times, carrying the Reuters account, said the boat operated with China Coast Guard cutter 2502 and research vessel Xiang Yang Hong 03, and that Taiwanese officials treat the east coast as a critical wartime supply corridor if Beijing attempted a maritime blockade.

Two senior Taiwanese officials briefed on the matter told Reuters the fishing boat belonged to the PLA maritime militia fleet and had been operating in coordination with Chinese coast guard maritime harassment drills in an area not commonly used by Chinese vessels. Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense said China was using law enforcement and scientific research as cover for harassment, seeking to expand its scope of operations in a non-conflict setting to create an illusion of de facto jurisdiction, undermine international order and challenge Taiwan's maritime rights.

Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration said it uses joint intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance to monitor Chinese vessels around Taiwan around the clock. The agency said the Chinese vessels in question were operating outside Taiwan's restricted waters and that it had monitored their movements throughout and responded appropriately. Taipei Times reporting on Friday likewise framed the Apex sighting as the first known militia-boat presence off the east coast and quoted the defence ministry on the gray-zone pattern.

The State Department reply, issued late on 8 October Washington time and carried in Taiwan early on 9 October, elevates a military-paramilitary sighting that Taiwan Defence and other outlets had already marked as a new east-coast pressure line. Washington's language tracks Taipei's warning that overlapping coast guard, research and militia craft are being used to normalise a Chinese presence on approaches that would matter in a Pacific supply crisis or blockade scenario.