On Saturday, March 16th, Chinese coast guard ships entered Taiwan’s restricted waters amidst heightened tensions over the Taiwan Strait, according to an article by Reuters. According to the article, four Chinese boats entered the waters of the Taiwan-controlled Kinmen islands, near China’s coast. They stayed despite the Taiwanese coast guard’s demands over radio to leave.

China has consistently been ignoring Taiwanese coast guard’s urges to stay out of Taiwanese territory, according to the article by Reuters. Just the day before, China sent four ships to patrol near the Kinmen islands before being sent away by Taiwan’s coast guard. The Taiwanese coast guard said in a statement that China’s actions in Taiwanese waters have affected traffic and safety, and that they could lead to serious incidents with large consequences for both countries. 

However, these tense encounters are not the only contact that the Taiwanese and Chinese coast guards have had. According to an article by Al Jazeera, the Taiwanese coast guard joined China’s rescue mission when a Chinese fishing boat capsized near the Kinmen islands. According to Taiwan’s chief coast guard, China has frequently asked for help from Taiwan concerning rescues. He also said that cooperation between the two countries, especially in the Taiwan strait, was necessary to reduce tensions and ensure safety. According to an article by Reuters, a senior Taiwan security official said that China was sending contradictory messages by continuing to intimidate Taiwan by sending ships into their territory while also asking for help in dealing with maritime accidents. While China has not been directly inciting conflict in the highly-contested waters, they are still complicating Beijing and Taipei’s relationship by failing to recognize Taiwan’s claim to the waters. 

Relations between China and Taiwan have been tense for decades, since Beijing views the island as part of its territory while Taiwan has viewed itself as independent since 1949. According to an article by the Council on Foreign Relations, the tensions between China and Taiwan represent a classic security dilemma where each side is taking actions that they see as defensive but the other side sees them as escalatory. While China may be trying to defend its position in the Taiwan strait, China’s ships are also unnecessarily intimidating Taiwan into possible retaliation with more severe measures. This increase of tensions on both sides could lead to a full-blown conflict which would likely involve international actors as well. In order to prevent this, China and Taiwan (and their coastguards) must engage in a dialogue to set clear rules that both sides can agree to regarding the Taiwan strait. Even if the two cannot agree on island ownership, there should be clear standards set in place over what actions can be taken in the waters between the two countries. Ambiguities can lead to unnecessary conflict, and cooperation in the waters is vital to keep citizens safe and continue effective rescue measures.