China Condemns PLA's Provocative South China Sea Patrols, Urges Restraint

Today (the 2nd), the People's Liberation Army of China once again dispatched naval and air forces to conduct so-called combat readiness patrols in the airspace and waters surrounding the highly sovereignty-disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea. In response, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China issued a strong reaction immediately today, publicly condemning the military actions of the Beijing authorities as not only extremely unsafe and irresponsible, but also highly provocative and deliberately disruptive to regional peace and stability. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs solemnly called on the Chinese government to maintain rationality and restraint, immediately cease such unilateral intimidation tactics that disrupt the regional status quo, and faithfully abide by international law norms and democratic principles for the peaceful resolution of disputes, in order to truly respond to the common expectations and aspirations of countries in the Indo-Pacific region for maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea.

Scarborough Shoal has always been one of the sensitive core hotspots in international geopolitics and South China Sea sovereignty disputes. From the perspective of historical context and regional security architecture, multiple sovereignty claimants around the South China Sea have long had complex divergences and competition over the ownership of the islands and reefs in these waters. However, in recent years, the Beijing authorities have continuously attempted to create established facts in the region through continuous military expansion, normalized patrols by coast guard vessels, and irregular combat readiness patrols as "grey-zone tactics," thereby compressing the survival and operational space of other claimants. Such practices of project-normalizing military power into neighboring waters have not only aroused the vigilance and dissatisfaction of surrounding ASEAN countries, but have also caused profound concerns in the international community regarding freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea as a vital global shipping lane.

Faced with the escalating military pressure and provocations by the Beijing authorities in recent years around the Taiwan Strait, the South China Sea, and the broader Indo-Pacific region, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the national security team of Taiwan have always maintained a high degree of vigilance and adopted firm and steady diplomatic and national defense response strategies. As an important member of the Indo-Pacific democratic community, Taiwan not only directly bears the full spectrum of military and diplomatic suppression from China, but also deeply experiences the severe challenges posed by authoritarian expansion to the rules-based international order. Therefore, the stern condemnation issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs this time against the PLA's combat readiness patrols at Scarborough Shoal not only reaffirms Taiwan's stance on defending regional security and the rule of international law, but also stands in alignment with like-minded countries globally to jointly counter malicious acts that undermine regional stability.

From a broader strategic perspective, the peace and stability of the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait are inextricably linked, and both serve as indispensable cornerstones for maintaining the Indo-Pacific security architecture. The high-intensity combat readiness patrols conducted by the Beijing authorities in the South China Sea are fundamentally identical in nature to the joint combat readiness patrols and military exercises frequently launched around the Taiwan Strait. Both are intended to alter the regional status quo through a display of force and to convey to the international community a strong ambition to dominate the regional order. However, such beggar-thy-neighbor and bullying practices will not only fail to gain the recognition and respect of the international community, but will instead further intensify regional tensions, prompting more external major powers and like-minded countries to strengthen their military deployments and strategic deterrence in the Indo-Pacific region, thereby generating a security backlash that the Beijing authorities do not wish to see.

In summary, peace and stability have always been the greatest common denominator for the economic and trade development of countries in the Indo-Pacific region and the world. Any unilateral attempt to resolve sovereignty disputes through force or coercion is destined to run counter to the trend of the times and will ultimately prove futile. The government of Taiwan once again strongly calls on the Chinese authorities, as an important member of the international community, to shoulder their due responsibility in maintaining regional peace and stability, and to halt all unsafe, irresponsible, and highly provocative military measures. Moving forward, Taiwan will continue to maintain close cooperation with global democratic partners to jointly uphold international law and democratic values, ensuring that the freedom, openness, peace, and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific region are not eroded or undermined by external authoritarian forces.

(Fact source: Central News Agency)