China Coast Guard’s Incursions into Kinmen’s Waters Reveal Two Long-term Goals
Source：Pei-Yin Hsieh
A year after a fatal maritime incident, China’s Coast Guard has made 60 incursions into Kinmen’s waters. Taiwan’s response is restrained, locals unfazed. Why? This is an example of China's gray zone strategy gradually taking over Taiwan's territorial waters.
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China Coast Guard’s Incursions into Kinmen’s Waters Reveal Two Long-term Goals
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It is winter in Kinmen. The northeast monsoon is still going strong, but a ray of sunlight sparkles in the distance. Fisherman Tien-hsiang Sun (孫天祥) from Leiyu Township sets out in his boat before the break of dawn to catch yellow croakers to sell to China.
On the surface, it's just another day in Kinmen, the closest part of Taiwanese territory to China. But an international crisis is brewing.
Tien-hsiang Sun, Fisherman. (Source: Pei-Yin Hsieh)
On the southwestern side of Leiyu, a patrol vessel from Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration (CGA) can be seen speeding westward. In that direction, a China Coast Guard (CCG) ship has been spotted criss-crossing the line designating Kinmen's restricted waters. "They're going over to warn them off," observes Sun stolidly, as though it was a common occurrence.
Capsized Fishing Boat Sparked Territorial Conflict
In recent years, stand-offs between Chinese and Taiwanese coast guard vessels in Kinmen's waters have become frequent. On February 14th, 2024, a Chinese motor boat capsized after trespassing into restricted waters and being pursued by the CGA, resulting in two dead and two injured. Beijing took the opportunity to dispute Kinmen's authority over its surrounding waters. Since then, CCG boats have normalized so-called "law enforcement patrols" and conducted multiple incursions into Kinmen's waters, for a total of 60 instances as of February this year.
These incursions can be defined as a type of "gray zone conflict" tactics, which are not designed to provoke war, but can put pressure on a rival's territorial claims. As a result, tensions are rising around Kinmen.
Sun points out the uninhabited Binlang Islet. "This was the natural divide between China and Taiwan," he recalls. Taiwan's armed forces used to respond with live fire if Chinese vessels crossed the line. In 1992, Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense designated restricted waters around Taiwan based on the Cross-Strait Act. While China has never officially acknowledged the decision, it's also been careful to keep within its borders. At the time, the two coast guards were even on friendly terms. "We used to go for tea on each other's boats," remembers a former member of the CGA who was based in Kinmen.
That goodwill has all but evaporated in the wake of the 2/14 Kinmen Incident. Kinmen's coast guard has always been short on personnel and ships. Faced with China's superior force, it can do little besides monitor the situation.
Fishers Carry On Despite Rising Tensions
Sun admits that for the residents of Kinmen, so long as they observe the law, the coast guard doesn't concern them.
Kinmen County councilman Senpo Tung (董森堡) explains that due to cross-strait hostilities, Kinmen's fishing industry has always been small. With fewer than ten boats in the sea, fisherfolk are unlikely to run into the coast guard. The recently popular leisure fishing spots are also unaffected.
Senpo Tung (董森堡). (Photo: Pei-Yin Hsieh)
Liu mentions that CCG vessels are currently sticking to linear patrols rather than enforcing a total lockdown. Besides the King Xia Cruise Ship that came close to being boarded immediately after the motorboat incident, civilian boats around Kinmen have so far been left alone.
CommonWealth Magazine tracked Chinese vessels through the automatic identification system, or AIS. CCG ships usually traveled a fixed route, from the Port of Weitou in Guangzhou past the waters of Beiding Island and Zhaishan, before returning to port in Macau.
The reason the CCG's incursions come from the south is because the boundaries are less well-defined there, and because the deeper waters allow for the deployment of bigger boats. Since China's "Joint Sword-2024A" military drill in May of 2024, the tonnage of its military vessels has increased, and so the southern route is more suitable for their maneuvers. However, one unexpected windfall of the frequent patrols is that illegal Chinese fishing boats have all but vanished, removing a thorn from Taiwanese fisherfolk's sides.
Sovereignty Challenge and Port Monitoring
Kinmen may seem a secluded haven on the surface, but it is actually in danger of having its sovereignty stripped away a bit at a time. Its restricted waters are akin to its territorial sea or contiguous zone. China's unceasing incursions are a direct challenge to Kinmen's defense.
Liu worries that if the CCG patrols continue, Beijing may one day use it in international courts as the basis of its sovereignty in this area. "Think of it as your garden, if the neighbor comes by to plant and weed for you every day, can you still be sure it's your garden?"
In addition, the patrols come very close to Liaoluo Port, Kinmen's primary civilian and military harbor. Tung surmises that China is taking the chance to keep tabs on freight movement, or even to plan for an eventual lockdown.
In the face of China's creeping provocations, Kinmen is caught between Scylla and Charybdis. More patrols or naval interventions may set off a powder keg, but it’s also unsustainable for Taiwan to move units from other vital waters to defend Kinmen. And yet, even though CGA's shadowing, staring-down, and dispersing of CCG vessels are no longer enough of a deterrent, escalation runs the risk of sparking cross-strait conflict.
Beijing's gray zone tactics have put Kinmen in a bind. Unfortunately, there's no end in sight to this unwinnable stalemate.
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Translated by Jack Chou
Edited by TC Lin
Uploaded by Ian Huang
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