Japan, Taiwan Normalize Joint Coast Guard Drills

Japan and Taiwan are moving to normalize regular joint coast guard training and may include other allies. In mid‑June Tokyo dispatched the helicopter-capable patrol vessel Mizuho and Taiwan sent the 126‑meter patrol ship Yunlin to international waters near the Sakishima Islands for a simulated maritime rescue. Tokyo treats the drills as exchanges under memorandums on maritime rescue signed in 2017 and 2024, and officials say the stepped-up cooperation — including earlier joint exercises such as a 2023 search-and-rescue off Chiba — is driven in part by China’s increasingly coercive actions around the Senkaku/Diaoyutai islands and waters near Taiwan. Taiwan Defense Minister Wellington Koo said he is closely monitoring Chinese military activity ahead of the island’s National Day but would not speculate whether Beijing will reprise last year’s post‑holiday war games. Koo visited bases in the Penghu islands, was pictured with a Sky Bow III surface‑to‑air missile battery that has entered service, and emphasized Penghu’s role as a critical defense zone.