An increasingly aggressive coast guard signals the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) willingness to risk escalation in the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait, analysts say. Meanwhile, like-minded nations are cooperating to uphold stability in the region.
Rather than focusing on traditional law enforcement missions targeting smugglers or providing search and rescue, the CCP has militarized coast guard ships and deployed the fleet in territorial disputes. The maritime force’s illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive (ICAD) actions include disrupting sovereign nations’ oil and gas exploration, and blocking military and civilian vessels operating inside their respective countries’ exclusive economic zones.
The People’s Republic of China (PRC) claims almost all of the South China Sea in defiance of a 2016 international tribunal ruling that invalidated the territorial assertion. Beijing is a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which established the tribunal, but refuses to recognize the court’s authority.
The PRC’s unfounded territorial claims encroach on the internationally recognized sovereign waters of nations including the Philippines, which has exposed Beijing’s yearslong campaign of coercion against military patrols and civilian fishing crews, as well as Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam.
Beijing claims Taiwan and threatens to annex the democratically governed island by force. During the CCP’s destabilizing military drills in October 2024, coast guard ships encircled the island. PRC coast guard vessels also have intruded into Japanese-controlled waters around the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, where Beijing also has arbitrary territorial claims.
In contrast, regional Allies and Partners are increasing collaboration. The Japanese, South Korean and United States Coast Guards agreed in May 2024 to enhance operations and include other partners. The pact recognizes the importance of conserving maritime resources, combating illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, and strengthening search and rescue.
The Quad-at-Sea Ship Observer Mission is scheduled to launch in 2025. It will unite the Australian Border Force with the Coast Guards of India, Japan and the U.S. to improve interoperability and advance maritime safety, Quad leaders said.
Strengthened cooperation can help uphold national and international laws and counter ICAD activities, which fall below the threshold of military conflict, researcher Prakash Panneerselvam of the Japan Foundation Indo-Pacific Partnership Program wrote for The Diplomat magazine.
“Coast guards play a critical role in enforcing law and order at sea, ensuring maritime domain awareness, protecting fisheries, combating piracy, and preventing illegal trafficking and poaching,” he said.
Southeast Asian nations also can leverage support to bolster security through the Quad’s Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness, which provides information about maritime activity, and the Maritime Initiative for Training in the Indo-Pacific, which enables partners to monitor and secure their waters. Both efforts offer tools to address terrorism and other crimes, according to Panneerselvam.
“Quad coast guard cooperation also enhances the ‘Quad Plus’ framework, opening avenues for cooperation with like-minded countries like Vietnam, the Philippines and Indonesia, which also face significant challenges from China in the maritime domain,” he wrote. “As these countries increasingly look to the Quad countries for support, the initiative can serve as a confidence-building measure, reinforcing the notion of a broader coalition against Chinese military actions in the region.”
