Beijing vows to carry out more surveys east of Taiwan to assert its sovereignty

Beijing will make maritime surveys in the waters east of Taiwan a routine matter as it seeks to assert its sovereignty following talks between Japan and the Philippines, state media reported on Friday.
An article published by Yuyuan Tantian, a social media account affiliated with state broadcaster CCTV, said mainland China was “diversifying” its claims to the waters with a range of activities, ranging from military drills and coastguard patrols to natural resources surveys.
It added that more regular surveys would help with territorial planning, development and protection. It said future operations could cover areas such as exploring for natural resources, aquaculture and building underwater infrastructure such as cables, pipes and tunnels.
On Thursday, the Ministry of Natural Resources announced that the research vessel Xiangyanghong 22 had carried out a three-day marine environmental survey in China’s “jurisdictional waters”.
It was the latest effort by Beijing to reinforce its territorial claims after Japan and the Philippines announced they were in talks about outlining their exclusive economic zones and continental shelf boundaries east of Taiwan – moves Beijing denounced as “seriously infringing upon China’s maritime rights and interests”.
China said the waters east of Taiwan and its affiliated islands fell within its exclusive economic zone, and that all activities it carried out there were lawful exercises of its sovereign rights, according to Yuyuan Tantian.
The survey was an extension of Beijing’s “nearshore governance”, the article said.
It added: “In the future, references to the ‘Taiwan Strait’ will appear less frequently in our perspective; the waters east of Taiwan will be regarded as our ‘near seas’ – this is the maritime space where we are present, exercise jurisdiction and carry out governance.”
China has previously conducted surveys in the same waters, Yuyuan Tantian added, but they were mainly one-off operations.
It said the latest survey was part of an annual programme, and signalled a shift towards continuous management.
“From joint drills and training exercises around Taiwan, to law enforcement patrols carried out by the China Coast Guard, to special maritime traffic law enforcement and surveying operations organised by the Ministry of Transport, and then to the routine survey conducted by the Ministry of Natural Resources, the ways in which we exercise jurisdiction over this sea area are continuously becoming more diversified,” the article said.
It added: “China also conducted bird and cetacean surveys in this sea area for the first time. This marks a shift in the survey from a basic census to a more detailed, targeted investigation focusing on specific species and specific regions.”
Yuyuan Tantian reported that “some forces”, which it did not name, had tried to interfere with the survey, but the work had been carried out with support from coastguards and other agencies.

The coastguard worked with the Ministry of Natural Resources to place the waters east of Taiwan “under routine and systematic management”, it said.
“The more some actors attempt to disrupt the situation, the more we must ensure that routine surveys, patrols and protection work are carried out thoroughly and effectively,” the article said.
Earlier this month, another Yuyuan Tantian article said a maritime traffic patrol had helped bring the waters east of Taiwan under routine management, dispelling suggestions the area was a “jurisdictional blank space”.
That operation also helped fill gaps in previously incomplete seabed mapping data, it said.
Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China and has never renounced the use of force to reunite it with the mainland.
Most countries, including the United States, Japan and the Philippines, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, but Washington is opposed to any attempt to take the self-ruled island by force and is committed to supplying it with weapons.