By Kirsty Needham
SYDNEY (Reuters) -China is taking further steps towards high seas boarding of fishing boats in the Pacific for the first time, risking tensions with Taiwanese fleets and U.S. Coast Guard vessels that ply the region, Pacific Islands officials told Reuters.
The Chinese Coast Guard demonstrated the capabilities of one of its largest ships, used to enforce maritime law in the Taiwan Strait, to Pacific Island ministers last week. It is also actively involved in debates on the rules of high seas boarding, according to documents and interviews with Pacific fisheries officials.
The fisheries officials said it was anticipated China will soon begin patrols in a “crowded” fisheries surveillance space.
“Hosting the leaders, demonstrating their capabilities in terms of maritime operations, those kind of things are indications they want to step into that space,” said Allan Rahari, director of fisheries operations for the Forum Fisheries Agency, in an interview with Reuters.
The agency runs enforcement against illegal fishing for a group of 18 Pacific Island countries, with assistance from navy and air force patrols by Australia, the United States, France and New Zealand.
The biggest fishing fleets in the Pacific, attracting the most infringement notices by inspectors, are Chinese and Taiwanese.
But China is also the largest fisheries partner to some Pacific Island countries, and Rahari said agreements for Chinese coast guard patrols in coastal waters could be struck under security deals with these countries.
China registered 26 coast guard vessels with the Western & Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) in 2024 for high seas boarding and inspections in a vast region where the U.S. and Australia have the biggest inspection fleets.
The commission has not received a notification from China that it has conducted any inspection, but Chinese officials have become active in debate over the rules on boardings, WCPFC executive director Rhea Moss-Christian told Reuters.
China last year called for a review of the guidelines, and in March, Chinese officials attended a video meeting about an Australian-led effort to strengthen voluntary rules, she said.
WCPFC inspectors in international waters need to gain permission for each inspection from the suspected vessel’s flag state before boarding.
Rahari said it could be “very complicated” diplomatically if a Chinese coast guard vessel sought to board a Taiwanese fishing boat. Beijing does not recognise Taiwan as a separate country.
Chinese officials and the Chinese Coast Guard did not respond to Reuters requests for comment. Australia declined to comment, while Taiwan and the U.S. Coast Guard did not respond to requests for comment.
SHIP TOUR
Foreign ministers from 10 Pacific Island nations visited the coastal Chinese city of Xiamen and toured Haixun 06, which can travel 18,500 km (11,470 miles or 10,000 nautical miles) or 60 days without resupply.
Papua New Guinea (PNG) foreign minister Justin Tkatchenko said 10 Pacific Island ministers saw the Chinese coast guard demonstrate a maritime emergency drill, but told Reuters they did not discuss Pacific patrols.
PNG is negotiating a new defence treaty with Australia, and struck a 2023 security deal with the United States allowing the U.S. Coast Guard to patrol PNG’s 2.7 million square kilometre exclusive economic zone.
Fiji said it had approved a new maritime security agreement with Australia this week.
Nauru’s government broadcaster posted photographs on social media of the Haixun 06 drill, which it said “reaffirmed the importance of maritime cooperation between China and Pacific Island nations”. Under a security treaty struck in December, Nauru must notify Australia before the Chinese navy comes to port.
The U.S. Coast Guard has maritime law enforcement agreements with a dozen Pacific Island nations allowing it to enter nations’ exclusive economic zones, and increased its patrols last year.
“The key considerations for China is stepping into that space without stepping on other partners toes, because that will then create conflicts within the region and that is something we don’t want,” Rahari said.
Reuters previously reported the first U.S. Coast Guard patrol in Vanuatu’s waters saw local officials board several Chinese fishing boats in 2024, finding infringements, which Beijing criticised.
Since 2008, Chinese fishing vessels were issued with 158 infringements, or 46% of Chinese boardings by WCPFC inspectors including the U.S., France and Australia, WCPFC data shows. Taiwanese fishing boats were issued 233 infringements.
(Reporting by Kirsty Needham in Sydney; Additional reporting by Liz Lee and Xiuhao Chen in Beijing, and Ben Blanchard in Taipei; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
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