By Sam Garcia / Staff writer, with CNA
Taiwan and Japan are moving to normalize joint coast guard training and considering the inclusion of other allies, Japanese newspaper the Yomiuri Shimbun reported today.
Both nations’ coast guards in June sent vessels to the seas south of the Sakishima Islands to conduct joint training, the report said.
It was the second joint maritime training exercise since the nations severed formal diplomatic ties in September 1972, it said.
Photo courtesy of the Coast Guard Administration
Japan dispatched the Mizuho, a 134m-long, 6,000 tonne patrol vessel belonging to the Nagoya Coast Guard, which can carry a helicopter, while the Coast Guard Administration dispatched the 126m-long, 4,000-tonne Yunlin, one of its largest vessels, the report said.
The vessels came close enough to visually identify each other and shared information to coordinate their operations, it said.
Afterward, the Mizuho traveled to Southeast Asia to conduct joint training with Malaysia and defend against piracy, the report said.
The two nations’ coast guards also conducted a joint search-and-rescue exercise in waters south of the Boso Peninsula in July last year, it said.
Japan classifies this type of joint training as an exchange activity conducted under memoranda related to maritime rescue, which were signed in 2017 and last year, it said.
The two nations’ coast guards have also held private exchanges in Taipei and Tokyo over the past few years, deepening their collaboration, the report said.
The two sides are boosting cooperation in response to China’s increasing coercive actions in the East and South China Seas and waters around Taiwan, it said.
AloJapan.com