Michael Mazza on Taiwan: The US Coast Guard to the rescue

By: Michael Mazza | Taipei Times |

For the last 15 years, China has relied on gray zone operations to advance its territorial ambitions across Asia. And for 15 years, the US has struggled to respond. But the open door on which China has been pushing may finally be closing.

Gray zone operations involve the assertive use of a variety of tools in ways that create conditions that can be described as neither peace nor war. Military forces might act provocatively — even dangerously — while carefully avoiding violence, whereas law enforcement employs nonlethal violence as a first resort. Such an approach creates difficult calculations for its targets. If Chinese coast guard vessels, for example, far outclass their Philippine counterparts, should the Philippines respond with warships? Can Taiwan stop Chinese fighter jets from crossing the Taiwan Strait median line without shooting them down? Such steps could be construed as escalations, invite Chinese escalation in turn, and put allies and partners like the US in a difficult position: whether to engage in military confrontation with China or let a friend blow in the wind.

Beijing has used this approach to great effect. Since 2013, the People’s Republic of China has literally built a string of islands across the South China Sea, used “fishing boats” to enforce sovereignty claims, continually pushed boundaries in deploying military forces near Taiwan, and engaged in “law enforcement” activities in far distant waters. It can now project power far from its southern shores and claim effective control of numerous contested reefs and islets, and it has normalized the daily military coercion of Taiwan.

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