Taiwan cheered by Western allies' alarm over Chinese Coast Guard activities

Taiwan expressed its thanks after the U.S., Britain, France and Germany raised the alarm about the Chinese Coast Guard and other activities off the island's east coast, with the government saying freedom of navigation was essential to global trade.



China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, sent Coast Guard ships earlier in June into the waters off the island's east coast for what it called a "special maritime traffic law-enforcement operation," angering Taipei.



China said the operation was in response to an announcement by Japan and the Philippines that they would begin formal talks on their maritime boundaries, which Beijing viewed as involving Chinese waters off Taiwan.



China has also been sending maritime survey ships into the same waters.



Joseph Wu, secretary-general of Taiwan's National Security Council, wrote on X late on Wednesday he was "truly thankful" for the statements from the four countries.



"A rules-based int'l order, the StatusQuo, regional peace and stability are what we all care about. The PRC should stop its maritime expansionism," he wrote, referring to the People's Republic of China.