First Joint Maritime Drill between Japan and Taiwan Signals Strengthened Cooperation

Japanese and Taiwanese coast guards conducted their first joint drill off Japan's eastern coast, focusing on maritime cooperation amid concerns over China's regional assertiveness. The exercise involved search and rescue operations and aimed to enhance practical collaboration, despite escalating China-Taiwan tensions.

Japanese and Taiwanese coast guards conducted what is believed to be their first joint drill off Japan's eastern coast, officials said Friday, in a strategic move to expand maritime cooperation as concerns grow over China's increasingly assertive activities in regional seas.

The drill, conducted amid escalating tensions between China and Taiwan, prompted Beijing to assert its claim over Taiwan, which it considers its territory and has not ruled out using force to annex.

China frequently dispatches coast guard vessels into waters near Japanese-controlled disputed islands in the East China Sea, raising confrontations with Japanese patrol ships.

However, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi on Friday clarified that the drill did not target any specific country, including China. 'It was part of practical cooperation and exchanges in the area of maritime search and rescue operations,' Hayashi said, emphasizing that no third country, including China, was in mind.

Thursday's drill involved a Japan Coast Guard patrol boat Sagami and Taiwan's Hsun Hu No. 9 off the southern coast of Chiba. The Taiwanese ship, on a high-seas patrol mission to protect fishing boats, made a refueling stop in Tokyo Bay ahead of the drill, according to NHK television.

Hayashi described Taiwan as Japan's 'extremely important partner and a precious friend' that shares fundamental values, economic ties, and people-to-people exchanges. He affirmed Tokyo's intention to deepen cooperation with Taiwan within the framework of maintaining nongovernmental, practical relations.

Since establishing diplomatic ties with China in 1972, Japan has maintained nongovernmental relations with Taiwan through representative offices on each side. Japan has recently been enhancing its coast guard capabilities and expanding joint exercises. In June, Japan's coast guard participated in its first trilateral joint search and rescue drills with the US and South Korea, and last year, Japanese and US coast guards supported capacity-building efforts for their Philippine counterparts.