U.S. Trains Taiwan Coast Guard as China Escalates Patrols

The United States is training Taiwan’s coast guard in maritime patrol and law enforcement skills, Taipei said, amid growing Chinese activity in nearby waters.

The U.S. Coast Guard training from August 10-21 will focus on “small-craft operations, team coordination and maritime patrols,” Taiwan’s coast guard said in a statement.

The aim is to improve Taiwan’s “maritime law enforcement capabilities” when operating in “complex maritime operational environments,” it said.

Taiwan and the United States signed a memorandum of understanding in 2021 to boost maritime cooperation between their coast guards, but they rarely publicize joint training exercises. That appears to be changing after the de facto U.S. embassy in Taiwan published an undated photo last month on Facebook of a U.S. coast guard ship sailing beside a Taiwanese coast guard vessel.

This comes after Chinese ships began in June to patrol for the first time an area of the Western Pacific near Taiwan’s east coast, which Taipei branded as “provocative” and “expansionism in disguise.” China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and insists that waters around the island nation fall under its jurisdiction, which Taipei rejects. China has stepped up military and coast guard activity near Taiwan in recent years, deploying fighter jets, warships, and other vessels around the island on an almost daily basis.

The training signals a gradual deepening of U.S.–Taiwan security cooperation below the threshold of formal military ties, with maritime law enforcement becoming an increasingly important part of Taiwan’s response to Chinese pressure. The key indicator to watch is whether Washington and Taipei expand joint coast guard activities into more frequent or operationally sophisticated patrols, particularly around Taiwan’s eastern approaches. Beijing’s response—especially any increase in coast guard deployments, patrol frequency or attempts to challenge Taiwanese vessels—will indicate whether the training is beginning to alter the operational balance in the surrounding waters.