China's maritime moves are a textbook gray-zone power grab, using law enforcement vessels to manufacture fake jurisdictional claims where none legally exist. Beijing has no sovereign rights in those waters, and deploying ships in coordination with survey vessels near Pratas Island marks a dangerous new escalation. Taiwan's coast guard is right to push back hard against this blatant attempt to rewrite the rules of the Taiwan Strait.
Any boundary negotiation east of Taiwan must include China as a party. However, Japan and the Philippines bypassed China entirely when announcing maritime delimitation talks in waters where China holds legitimate EEZ and continental shelf rights under UNCLOS — a clear violation of international law. Beijing's law enforcement operation is a lawful assertion of sovereignty that the international community is obligated to respect.
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