Coast guard’s strategic status is rising: budget
GROWING TIES: The CGA is planning a goodwill mission to the Philippines, in what would be the first time since 1975 a Taiwanese paramilitary vessel has visited the country
By Lo Tien-pin and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) plans to significantly expand its participation in international security cooperative frameworks and its operational capabilities, a budget proposal for next year showed.
The budget indicates a transformation of the CGA from a maritime law enforcement arm into a national defense and intelligence gathering entity capable of tackling larger regional security matters.
The proposal showed that personnel from the coast guard’s Intelligence Division and Special Action Support Center are to participate in high-level national security talks with the US.
Taiwanese and US coast guard vessels sail together in an image released by the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) on July 28.
Photo: Screen grab from AIT’s Facebook page
As the CGA has dealt with China’s rising “gray zone” threats around Taiwan, it has become a valuable asset to national security agencies. Since establishing a working group with the US Coast Guard in 2021, the agency has developed mutual trust with the US through cooperation on maritime search-and-rescue operations and disrupting the smuggling of advanced chips.
As part of the transition, Navy Vice Admiral Yuan Sheng-hua (原聖華) was yesterday appointed a deputy director-general of the CGA to help prepare the agency for more complex and demanding responsibilities.
The CGA is also allocating funds to organize a “friendship fleet” next year with a large offshore patrol vessel and about 100 personnel and cadets to visit the Philippines for eight days.
It would be the first time for a Taiwanese government ship with paramilitary capabilities to sail to the Philippines on a goodwill mission since the two countries severed diplomatic ties in 1975, marking a breakthrough in bilateral cooperation in maritime security.
The visit and the donation last month of a decommissioned 500-tonne Kinmen-class patrol vessel to the Philippine Coast Guard is expected to elevate Taipei’s relationship with Manila.
Taiwan and the US are jointly building an advanced command-and-control system to coordinate in the region. The Ministry of National defense has allocated nearly NT$500 million (US$15.7 million) to National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology to develop a “common operational picture,” which is expected to be finished by the end of next year, as part of that effort.
The CGA is also planning to integrate its radar systems into the Taiwan Tactical Network being implemented in the nation’s armed forces, and invest NT$1.2 billion to buy US-based Shield AI’s V-BAT vertical takeoff and landing drones.
The V-BAT is a reconnaissance and surveillance uncrewed aerial vehicle with strong resistance to electronic interference and advanced intelligence. The drones are expected to become an important tool for countering Chinese patrol operations near Taiwan.
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