US coastguard sails into troubled waters with mission to counter China in Pacific

The United States is leaning on its coastguard to reinforce its presence in the West Pacific as its navy comes under increasing strain in the Middle East.

Although this move may be seen as a lower-risk way of countering Beijing’s growing presence in the region, increasing US cooperation with the Taiwanese coastguard risks further mainland Chinese pressure on the island.

Recently, the US announced that six fast-response cutters that had been based in the Middle East for more than 20 years would be sent to the Philippines and Singapore this month.

Meanwhile, the US embassy in Manila said it would hand over two new coastguard vessels to the Philippines to “support search and rescue missions and increased maritime domain awareness”.

The announcement followed a visit to Manila last month by Pentagon undersecretary for policy Elbridge Colby, who said the US would deploy four fast-response cutters on rotation to work with their Philippine counterparts in the country’s exclusive economic zone.

Observers said the shift highlighted the squeeze on US resources as warships continued to be deployed to the Middle East as a peace deal with Iran proved elusive.