Taiwan’s Resilience Committee recently held a tabletop exercise on countering maritime coercion, particularly on high-intensity gray-zone threats disrupting maritime traffic & international shipping safety. 11 gov't ministries participated & briefed results to President Lai. 1/


Scenarios in the TTX simulated China’s Coast Guard unilaterally demanding ships in the region to complete declarations with Chinese authorities, leading to increasing coercive measures such as inspections, boardings ‌and detaining ⁠of vessels, disrupting maritime logistics. 2/

Notes on the recent Chinese boat that capsized near Kinmen Island after being pursued by Taiwan’s Coast Guard. 🧵 It is regrettable that 2 deaths occurred in the recent accident. The Chinese boat evicted by Taiwan’s Coast Guard fits the description of “3 Nos”: No ship name, No ship certificate, No registered port 三無船舶. Its activities are considered illegal in both China and Taiwan. 1/n

Together with @hungsunhan, earlier this week we called on prosecutors to investigate the mass smuggling of Australian rock lobsters, with at least 60 tonnes smuggled from Taiwan into the Chinese market through 33 ship-to-ship transfers near the Matsu Islands. 1/ The smugglers shipped in lobsters from Taiwan to Matsu through both air & sea routes. They then falsely declared Daqiu Island as a “domestic” shipping destination. Navigational tracing reveals that the smugglers instead headed north to meet with Chinese counterparts. 2/

Frankly I’m disappointed at the hyperbolic response leading up to Pelosi’s Taiwan visit from certain "China experts" in the West. If a Chinese state-media pundit claims that China will attack a foreign delegation, and you believe it, then you’re probably not an expert on China.1/ When China issues violent threats, people in Taiwan heighten our level of alertness and observe actual actions that follow the remarks, such as limited displays of force. We don’t ignore the comments, but we should focus on avoiding civilian accidents in the process. 2/