Karishma Vaswani, Columnist

Taiwan Should Watch How Manila Pushes Back on China

Taipei cannot allow Beijing to change the status quo in the contested waters around the island. It needs to shine a light on these gray-zone activities.

February 25, 2024 at 8:00 PM UTC

By Karishma Vaswani

Karishma Vaswani is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering Asia politics with a special focus on China. Previously, she was the BBC's lead Asia presenter and worked for the BBC across Asia and South Asia for two decades.

Shining a light.
Photographer: Lisa Marie David/Bloomberg

Provide news feedback or report an error

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

This article is for subscribers only.

With China escalating “gray-zone activities” in the Taiwan Strait, it’s time for Taipei to abandon its cautious strategy and take fresh inspiration from the Philippines. Tired of fishermen being harassed by the Chinese coast guard and the dangerous maneuvers against its naval ships, Manila has started calling this behavior out.

The deaths last week of two Chinese fishermen off the coast of the Taiwanese island of Kinmen — after a China-registered speedboat carrying four people was chased by authorities when it refused inspection — have made this all the more urgent. A press officer for the Taiwanese Coast Guard said the deaths were the first-ever fatalities from its enforcement action, but the consequences are far-reaching.