US, Britain, France and Germany warn on China patrols near Taiwan

Chinese patrols and survey missions off Taiwan’s east coast drew a rare joint warning from the United States, Britain, France and Germany after Beijing sent six vessels to waters about 140 nautical miles east of the island. The activity is strategically different from the more familiar pressure in the Taiwan Strait because it puts Chinese state ships on Taiwan’s Pacific flank, where they can threaten eastern sea lanes and complicate any allied response.

Beijing called the June operation a "special maritime law-enforcement operation," its second such mission, and sent two China Coast Guard cutters, three China Maritime Safety Administration patrol ships and one China Rescue Service and Salvage Bureau vessel. The deployment protested talks between Japan and the Philippines over maritime boundaries, which Beijing said involved waters off Taiwan that it claims as its own territory.

The de facto British, French and German missions in Taipei were concerned about "novel Chinese activity" in waters east of Taiwan and called it a threat to regional stability, freedom of navigation and the safety of international shipping. The U.S. State Department called China’s behavior "deeply destabilizing" and opposes unilateral changes to the status quo, including through force or coercion.

Taiwan’s military is holding five days of immediate combat-readiness drills this week, and the main annual Han Kuang exercises are expected in August. China’s newest aircraft carrier also sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday.