Record Chinese Ship Deployments Around Taiwan Raise Submarine Warfare Concerns

China sent a record number of coast guard, research and other government vessels into waters around Taiwan in July, according to figures from Taiwan’s coast guard, as Beijing continues to increase pressure on the self-governed island.

A total of 244 Chinese vessels were detected around Taiwan’s main island during July, an average of almost eight ships a day. The figure was sharply higher than the 55 vessels recorded in June, 30 in May and 58 in July last year.

Taiwan recorded another 152 Chinese vessels during the first 21 days of August. About 60 per cent of the vessels detected in July were coast guard ships, while research vessels and other government-operated boats accounted for the remainder.

The figures exclude Chinese naval warships, which operate around Taiwan regularly.

Taiwan’s coast guard described the situation as increasingly serious, saying the growing presence of Chinese government vessels was part of a broader effort to assert Beijing’s claimed jurisdiction over waters surrounding the island.

China’s Communist Party has never governed Taiwan, but Beijing considers the island part of its territory and has refused to rule out using force to bring it under its control.

Taiwanese officials and security analysts have also raised concerns that Chinese research vessels could be collecting information useful for military operations, particularly submarine warfare.

Taiwan’s coast guard said it is monitoring about 41 of more than 120 Chinese oceanographic research vessels operating in the wider region. One vessel, the Tong Ji, circled Taiwan in May while conducting what officials said appeared to be seabed surveys and oceanographic sampling.

Such activities could provide information for Chinese anti-submarine warfare databases, according to Taiwan’s coast guard.

Ryan D. Martinson, a China maritime strategy expert at the US Naval War College, said the scale of Chinese research activity around Taiwan had increased substantially in recent months, especially east of the island.

He said data gathered by civilian research institutions can be shared with China’s military and could prove valuable to naval forces during a conflict.

Other analysts have pointed to the possibility that the increased maritime activity could support preparations for a blockade or quarantine of Taiwan, potentially restricting the movement of energy supplies and other essential goods.

Jason Wang, chief operating officer of ingeniSPACE, said China’s Xiang Yang Hong 03 research vessel was recently observed operating in Taiwan and Japan’s exclusive economic zones. He said it was accompanied by a Chinese coast guard vessel and a fishing boat linked to China’s maritime militia.

Wang said the activity appeared aimed at collecting new seabed and hydrographic information that could support anti-submarine operations.

Martinson described the scale of the activity as unprecedented, while Taiwan officials said Chinese vessels were increasingly operating together.

The developments add to concerns in Taipei that Beijing is gradually expanding its presence around the island while testing the limits of Taiwan’s ability to respond.