Defending National Sovereignty and Maritime Rights: The Shared Inescapable Duty of Compatriots on Both Sides of the Strait

捍卫国家主权和海洋权益两岸同胞义不容辞

PLA Daily (解放军报) 16 June 2026

Summary

MND spokesperson Senior Colonel Chen Xi, in a June 16 statement, defended China Coast Guard law enforcement operations in waters east of Taiwan Island as legitimate and asserted that defending sovereignty and maritime rights is the shared duty of compatriots on both sides of the strait. The statement frames the CCG's presence in those waters as an EEZ and continental shelf claim that Beijing treats as non-negotiable, directly contesting both Japan-Philippines delimitation talks and Taiwan's characterization of CCG activity as provocation. The sharp language directed at the DPP—'forgetting one's ancestors,' 'turning black into white'—extends a pattern of using MND press statements to delegitimize Taipei's government while simultaneously appealing over its head to a cross-strait nationalist framing.

The MND spokesperson explicitly frames CCG law enforcement east of Taiwan as a cross-strait obligation binding on both sides, directly rebuking Taiwan's defense authorities by name and invoking the Japan-Philippines maritime delimitation talks—an unusual convergence of the Taiwan framing, CCG operational justification, and a third-party territorial dispute in a single official statement.

Translation

On the afternoon of June 16, Senior Colonel Chen Xi, spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense, released a statement on recent military-related issues.

Reporter: According to reports, Japan and the Philippines unilaterally announced the launch of "maritime delimitation negotiations" in waters east of China's Taiwan Island. The China Coast Guard has conducted law enforcement operations in the relevant waters, and Taiwan's defense authorities have called this "provocative behavior" and "cognitive warfare." What is your comment on this?

Chen Xi: Taiwan is a part of China. China possesses an exclusive economic zone and continental shelf in the waters east of Taiwan Island, and the China Coast Guard's conduct of law enforcement patrol operations is legitimate, necessary, and not to be infringed upon. Both sides of the strait belong to one China; jointly defending national sovereignty and maritime rights and interests is the inescapable duty (义不容辞的责任) of compatriots on both sides of the strait. The Democratic Progressive Party authorities have not only responded passively, but have also turned black into white (颠倒黑白), acted in a perverse and retrograde manner (倒行逆施), and abandoned their national stance. This conduct of forgetting one's ancestors and betraying one's heritage (数典忘祖) is contemptible.

Original Chinese

6月16日下午，国防部新闻发言人陈曦大校就近期涉军问题发布消息。记者：据报道，日菲单方面宣布启动位中国台湾岛以东“海域划界谈判”，中国海警在相关海域开展执法行动，台湾防务部门称这是“挑衅行为”和“认知作战”。请问对此有何评论？陈曦：台湾是中国的一部分，中国在台湾岛以东海域拥有专属经济区和大陆架，中国海警开展执法巡查行动，正当必要、不容侵扰。两岸同属一个中国，共同捍卫国家主权和海洋权益是两岸同胞义不容辞的责任。民进党当局不仅消极应对，还颠倒黑白、倒行逆施，丧失民族立场，这种数典忘祖的行径令人唾弃。