KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan -- Taiwan is giving its coast guard an expanded role in national security as part of a defense strategy that is focused on keeping China's landing forces from reaching its shores and warning Beijing of the difficulties it will encounter if it invades.
As part of this transformation, a coast guard cutter led four missile boats out of the port of the southern Taiwan city of Kaohsiung on Saturday, followed about 30 minutes later by a naval deployment of mobile radars, missile launchers, assault boats and drones -- a drill illustrating how Taiwan would respond to a Chinese amphibious invasion.
In a separate exercise, the Bali, a fast-response coast guard cutter loaded with antiship missiles, joined the navy and other coast guard vessels this week in a drill featuring the escort of a commercial ship through a mock Chinese blockade, Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration said on Thursday.
With China at the forefront, coast guards are evolving into tools for projecting power in the Western Pacific, marking territory and deterring rivals. The U.S. has joined the trend, operating fast-response Coast Guard cutters out of Singapore and the Philippines to help challenge China.
China has bulked up its coast guard with the world's longest coast guard patrol ships and the addition of converted naval vessels. It is using its coast guard increasingly as a military asset and a tool to pressure Taipei, including in blockade and invasion drills around Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own and has threatened to seize by force.
China regularly sends coast guard vessels into waters around Taiwan along with its naval vessels, which have been a persistent presence. Chinese coast guard vessels recently tried to exercise authority over foreign commercial ships on the Pacific side of Taiwan's main island.
Taiwan coast guard officials say that the increasing cooperation with the military is both a defense strategy and a response to Chinese maritime activities, which Taipei describes as "gray-zone" pressure.
As part of the shift, Taiwan's coast guard said it has taken part in 33 drills during this year's annual "Han Kuang" military exercises, which run for 10 days and conclude on Friday.
"The Taiwanese coast guard culture is anchored on coastal defense and law enforcement missions, not preparing for big navy, counter-blockade operations," said Ian Easton, an associate professor at the U.S. Naval War College. "That's why enhanced training and exercises are so important."
The 213-foot Bali is primarily responsible for rapid rescue operations or dispersing fishing boats. It typically has a rocket remote weapon and water cannon but can load Taiwan's Hsiung Feng II and Hsiung Feng III antiship missiles, a capability shared by at least 11 other Taiwan coast guard cutters of the same size.
The dozen cutters are part of a 10-year plan that began in 2018 to add 141 new ships to Taiwan's coast guard.
"The coast guard has a significant number of highly capable cutters that could be used in a variety of future scenarios to augment naval operations. The key will be outfitting them appropriately and training the officers and crews for their wartime jobs," Easton said.
In wartime, the Bali and any other coast guard vessels needed would fall under the command of the navy, according to Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration.
Taiwan's navy has been training coast guard personnel to enhance interoperability. During joint combat exercises last year, the coast guard tested the live-firing of two Hsiung Feng II missiles from a cutter similar to the Bali, according to a report by the navy sent to the Taiwan legislature.
The coast guard also deploys its ships alongside the navy at times to shadow Chinese ships near Taiwan's contiguous zone.
The antiblockade escort drill performed Wednesday in waters off Taiwan's east coast was focused on keeping sea lanes open for vital supplies including energy imports, a key to determining how long Taiwan can withstand a Chinese attack. Also this week, the army landed an Apache attack helicopter at coast guard headquarters, illustrating increased integration.
"China's maritime forces are steadily improving their ability to conduct increasingly complex operations," said Tristan Tang, a Taipei-based Nonresident Fellow at the National Bureau of Asian Research. "Taipei therefore cannot afford to respond only after a specific contingency occurs."
Taiwan is building more and bigger ships to counter the growing threat from China, Capt. Ger Si-an, who commands the cutter Taipei, the Taiwanese coast guard's largest vessel, told The Wall Street Journal during a recent patrol. The Taipei could be seen sailing alongside a U.S. Coast Guard vessel in a photo publicized recently by the American Institute in Taiwan, the de facto U.S. embassy in Taipei.
"Our weapons are mainly for law enforcement," Ger said. "When we're out on the water, we try not to use force if we can avoid it. It's about having the capability ready as a fallback -- keeping it prepared just in case."