China Launches Coast Guard Patrol East Of Taiwan Despite International Pushback

By Lewis Jackson and Ben Blanchard

BEIJING/TAIPEI, July 4 (Reuters) – China said on Saturday it had launched a coast guard patrol east of Taiwan to replace a coast guard task force whose presence off the island’s coast has angered Taipei and caused alarm in some Western capitals.

The fleet will conduct “law enforcement patrols” in the area, China’s Coast Guard said in a statement, adding it would strengthen such patrols in what it called China’s jurisdictional waters.

In response, Taiwan’s Coast Guard said it had deployed monitoring vessels and would use “all necessary measures to forcefully expel Chinese vessels harassing our waters.”

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