By Yimou Lee
TAIPEI, Oct 8 (Reuters) - A Chinese militia boat was spotted along with two other vessels off Taiwan's Pacific coast in August, according to a surveillance report reviewed by Reuters, the first known sighting of such a craft in the sensitive area.
The report by Taiwan's Apex Aviation identifies the Minfudingyu 07902 as a fishing boat that doubles as a Chinese militia vessel, which was seen operating with a Chinese coast guard cutter and a research vessel one day in mid-August.
China, which
views Taiwan as its own territory, has stepped up activity off the island's east coast since June with regular coast guard patrols. Officials in Taiwan, which rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims, say they believe China is practicing for a potential maritime blockade using overlapping military, paramilitary and civilian assets.
Taipei regards the area off its east coast as critical to wartime supply routes from allies in the event of a blockade or conflict.
FISHING BOAT PART OF 'HARASSMENT DRILLS', OFFICIAL SAYS
China was "using law enforcement and scientific research as cover for harassment, seeking to expand their scope of operations during a non-conflict scenario to create an illusion of de facto jurisdiction," Taiwan's defence ministry told Reuters in a statement when asked about the Apex report.
Such actions undermine international order and challenge Taiwan's maritime rights, the ministry said, adding that the island's military was using reconnaissance tools to track Chinese activity in coordination with other agencies, including Taiwan's coast guard.
China's Taiwan Affairs Office and defence ministry did not respond to requests for comment.
In a practice dating to the 1950s, China's maritime militia, more commonly observed around South China Sea flashpoints, consists of fishing vessels whose crews receive training and support to operate in disputed waters, often alongside coast guard ships.
Analysts say the fleet helps Beijing assert maritime claims while maintaining a civilian appearance.
Taiwan has confirmed that the Minfudingyu, the coast guard cutter 2502 and the research vessel Xiang Yang Hong 03 were operating near Taiwan in mid-August, said two senior Taiwan officials briefed on the matter.
Authorities identified the fishing boat as part of the People's Liberation Army's maritime militia fleet, which Taiwan was tracking and which was operating "in coordination with Chinese coast guard maritime harassment drills", one official said.
"The purpose of militia boats is to conduct substantive harassment," the official said.
The other official said the three craft were operating "in an area not commonly used by Chinese vessels" and had been "designated for heightened monitoring".
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
PRIVATE PATROL PART OF TAIWAN'S 'WHOLE OF SOCIETY' PUSH
The Apex report says a reconnaissance aircraft the company operates detected a Chinese maritime group more than 30 nautical miles off the coast of Taiwan's eastern county of Hualien. The company asked that the date of the spotting be withheld, citing safety concerns related to counter-reconnaissance against its operations.
The report uses radar screenshots, infrared imagery and automatic-identification system data to document the cluster of vessels.
The patrol by Apex, better known for pilot training and charter flights, reflects Taiwan's efforts to involve civilian firms in technologies relevant to the government's "whole of society resilience" initiative, though the company says its patrols are independently run and not carried out for the government.
Chinese warships, coast guard vessels, research ships and some civilian vessels continue to operate in overlapping ways, "creating pressure in the waters surrounding Taiwan", said Honor Hung, Apex's defence and security director.
The three Chinese vessels were spread over a roughly 10-nautical-mile radius, Honor said, adding that one surveillance tracking could not determine their missions or any coordination among them.
Apex uses a civilian light aircraft equipped with a powerful US-made radar that allows its patrols to detect objects on the surface as small as 900 square centimetres (140 square inches).
(Reporting By Yimou Lee; Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by William Mallard)
