Taiwan and Japan raised alarms on Friday after reports that China had sent an unusually large number of naval and coast guard vessels across East Asian waters. The deployment marks one of Beijing’s most extensive maritime operations in recent years, according to information reviewed by Reuters.
The activity, which involved more than one hundred ships at its peak, stretched across several strategic zones, from the Yellow Sea to the western Pacific. The scale of the movement drew regional attention because it extended far beyond the Taiwan Strait and included the contested Senkaku Islands area in the East China Sea.
Speaking in Taipei, presidential spokesperson Karen Kuo said the breadth of China’s maritime presence had raised wider security concerns. She noted that Chinese ships were operating along a long arc of waters, including the South China Sea.
She said the activity “posed a threat and impact to the Indo Pacific and the whole region” and urged Beijing to act responsibly. According to her remarks, President Lai Ching te instructed Taiwan’s security agencies to keep full situational awareness and maintain regular contact with partner governments to ensure early warning and stability across nearby waters.
In Tokyo, Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi told reporters that Japan was aware of the reported deployments and was observing Chinese military movements with close attention. He did not confirm the specific scale outlined in the Reuters reporting but stressed that monitoring efforts remained a priority as Chinese patrols continued to expand around Japan.
Koizumi said the government would continue gathering information and carrying out surveillance across the East China Sea, adding that the region had seen a steady rise in Chinese naval activity in recent years.
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China’s military did not issue a statement on the reports, but foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian addressed the matter in Beijing. He said Chinese navy and coast guard operations in what he called relevant maritime areas followed both domestic and international law.
Lin said there was “no need for any party to overreact or overinterpret” the movements and dismissed talk of unusual activity as speculative.
November and December are typically active months for Chinese military exercises. Analysts note that the People’s Liberation Army often conducts naval training during this period, although Beijing has not announced any large scale exercises in recent weeks.
