By The Straits Times | Created at 2026-08-20 04:34:53 | Updated at 2026-08-20 05:17:34
54 minutes ago
WASHINGTON/BEIJING – China is responding to closer cooperation between the Philippines and Japan by expanding its presence east of Taiwan in an apparent bid to establish jurisdiction over waters in the Philippine Sea, according to the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative.
The “unprecedented” Chinese operations – including sustained law-enforcement patrols, surveys near Taiwan and questioning nearly 200 commercial vessels – followed a May agreement between Japan and the Philippines to negotiate a maritime boundary, according to the research group that monitors maritime security issues in Asia.
The activity could also help normalise a Chinese presence around Taiwan and is stoking concerns that Beijing is testing tactics relevant to a future quarantine or blockade, AMTI said.
“The scale and character of China’s response suggest that these operations are not just about sending a signal to Tokyo and Manila,” the Washington-based policy programme said in a report released on Aug 19.
AMTI said Beijing may be trying to alter the status quo by establishing a semi-permanent presence east of Taiwan and asserting authority there.
The manoeuvres mark an escalation in tensions with Tokyo and Manila and employ the same kind of gray-zone tactics now commonplace in Beijing’s South China Sea disputes.
They also come as the Trump administration has toned down its public stance on Taiwan, with Chinese President Xi Jinping scheduled to visit the White House in September.
Japan and the Philippines have taken more assertive positions, suggesting in recent months they could be drawn into any fight over the self-governing island, remarks that have irked Beijing.
Japan and the Philippines have also moved to deepen military ties, agreeing in 2026 to elevate their relationship and open a series of defence talks.
Between June and August, Chinese law-enforcement activity, mainly involving two ships, was concentrated east of Taiwan in an area where Japan and the Philippines have overlapping maritime claims, according to AMTI.
By contrast, virtually no Chinese law-enforcement deployment was observed there in the five months before the delimitation talks were announced.
China also issued a legal warning against the two nations in July over their maritime border talks, saying the discussions “constitute a severe provocation against the One-China principle.”
Beijing disputes Japan’s control of the Senkaku Islands – known in China as the Diaoyu Islands – in the East China Sea.
With the Philippines, it contests sovereignty and maritime rights across parts of the South China Sea, including at Scarborough Shoal and in the Spratly Islands, where other nations, including Vietnam, are also bolstering defences as China’s military capabilities grow.
“The operations in the Philippine Sea suggest Beijing seeks broad and unprecedented jurisdiction over what it calls its ‘near seas,’” AMTI warned in its report. BLOOMBERG
