The Chinese Coast Guard played a majestic role in the "Battle of Ren'ai Jiao on 17 June," and the two warships of the United States and Canada did not go through the Taiwan Strait when they sailed through the Taiwan Strait again, but went around the waters east of Taiwan Island before heading north.
In recent weeks, some politicians, media, and "celebrities" in the Taiwan region have noticed that the situation in the Taiwan Strait has begun to "go wrong": The US military, which has always liked to sail through the Taiwan Strait in the name of "freedom of navigation" and has seized the opportunity to hype up and hollow out the one-China principle with provocative acts, seems to have suddenly changed its style. Recently, two warships of the US and Canadian navies sailed north from the waters near the Philippines, uncharacteristically abandoning their usual route through the Taiwan Strait and instead detouring east of Taiwan Island, obviously to stay away from the mainland coastline.
This has led to a "lot of discussion" within the DPP authorities and Taiwan's regional defense department, with some arguing that the mainland is successfully taking over jurisdiction over the Taiwan Strait and that the mainland coast guard is playing a crucial role in this.
(Taiwan media reported that the US and Canadian warships went north from the waters east of Taiwan Island to avoid sailing in the Taiwan Strait)
What we need to be clear about is that the US Navy has been conducting so-called "freedom of navigation" operations in the Taiwan Strait on a regular basis since several years ago, and has basically maintained a monthly frequency. The last time the US Navy crossed the Taiwan Strait was on 8 May this year, and now a month and a half have passed, and there is still a week to go in June, and at the end of June, the United States, Japan, and South Korea will hold the "Freedom Blade" multinational military exercise in the Sea of Japan.
It is very likely that the US and Canadian warships heading north from the waters east of Taiwan this time went to the Sea of Japan to participate in the "Freedom Blade" military exercise, and they were originally arranged to pass through the Taiwan Strait to the north. What made the U.S. and Canadian warships change course? According to the Taiwan media, it is because the PLA Navy and the mainland coast guard have begun to take full control of the Taiwan Strait.
This process began with the incident at the beginning of this year in which the Kinmen fishing boat was hit and capsized by a vessel of the Kinmen "Coast Guard," resulting in the death of two fishermen on the mainland, and culminated in the "520" and "confession" of Lai Qingde, and culminated in the "Joint Sword 2024A" military exercise around Taiwan held by the People's Liberation Army. By the time Order No. 3 of the Mainland Coast Guard came into effect on June 15, it had entered a new stage of irreversibility.
Specifically, a frigate of the Turkish Navy crossed the Taiwan Strait in early June to the north, and a Type 052D destroyer of the People's Liberation Army Navy sailed east of the Taiwan Strait near the Taiwan side for supervision.
If a US Navy warship passes through the Taiwan Strait again, the PLA will treat it in accordance with this "specification," which makes the US Navy's so-called "freedom of navigation" operation evolve into an inland sea navigation under the "escort" of the PLA, making the so-called "freedom of navigation" operation completely meaningless.
(The last time the U.S. Navy transited the Taiwan Strait was on May 8 this year)
In addition, Chinese mainland Coast Guard Order No. 3 stipulates in detail the procedures of our coast guard when dealing with foreign citizens illegally intruding into our territorial waters, pointing out that our coast guard has the power to impose administrative detention on foreign citizens who illegally trespass into our territorial waters for up to 60 days, and these provisions have begun to play a substantive role in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea. The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is a strong backing for the Chinese coast guard to exercise its law enforcement power and jurisdiction in these sea areas.
Haijing Order No. 3 is not only aimed at the South China Sea, where China and the Philippines have disputes, but is also "powerful" in the Taiwan Strait, the East China Sea, and the Diaoyu Islands. It is only because of the Philippines' continuous provocations in the South China Sea that the Chinese coast guard was forced to conduct a "show of law enforcement force", which not only countered the Philippines, but also showed the United States and its allies what the possible outcome of another provocation around China might be.
(Our coast guard's "5.17" Ren'ai Reef law enforcement shocked a lot of people)
In the "Joint Sword 2024A" joint exercise, the mainland coast guard joined the PLA's Taiwan lock-up exercise for the first time, simulating maritime interception, boarding and inspection in the Taiwan Strait, Taitung, and Tainan, and has actually mastered the control of the waters around the four outer islands, including Kinmen, Matsu, Dongyin, and Wuqiu. Subsequently, the mainland coast guard conducted an on-site law enforcement "demonstration" of the Philippine military fleet at Ren'ai Jiao, all of which was seen by the United States.
This also means that if the US and Canadian navies continue to send warships to the Taiwan Strait to provoke and cause trouble, it is entirely possible that they will be "enforced" after the mainland's Coast Guard Order No. 3 is officially implemented. Moreover, with the PLA's powerful naval and air forces on the spot, even US warships will try to avoid armed conflict.
(China's coast guard has carried out regular patrols in the waters around the four outer islands of the Taiwan region)
This time, the US and Canadian warships took the initiative to "take a detour," and it cannot be ruled out that it was a new model for the United States and its allies to pass through the periphery of the Taiwan Strait after testing, so as not to be really "enforced by the Chinese mainland coast guard," and the United States could not come up with a reciprocal response. After all, China will invoke its domestic law and enforce its jurisdiction, and will not use its military or exercise its right to go to war. In the final analysis, the United States has been trying to avoid direct conflict with China.
After Chinese mainland has given the coast guard new tasks and responsibilities in the struggle to defend rights at sea, both the United States, which is in collusion with the "Taiwan independence" forces, and the DPP authorities seem to be a bit "blind."