Coast Guard Military Diplomacy

China Coast Guard Calls for Building a Maritime Law Enforcement Community to Effectively Deter Illegal Maritime Activities

中国海警呼吁构建海上执法共同体有效遏制海上非法活动

PLA Daily (解放军报) 21 May 2026

Summary

At the 22nd HACGAM working-level meeting in Quanzhou on May 21, the China Coast Guard used the forum to advance its concept of a 'maritime law enforcement community,' calling on representatives from 16 countries and regions to deepen information sharing and joint enforcement mechanisms, while citing its own 2025 enforcement record—including 11.5 tons of narcotics seized and 150-plus illegal border crossing cases—as evidence of operational credibility. The article documents the CCG's use of multilateral coast guard diplomacy as a platform for norm-setting, specifically the push to institutionalize cooperative frameworks under Chinese conceptual framing ('blue partnerships,' 'maritime law enforcement community') that position the CCG as a regional security anchor. The February 24 methamphetamine case, highlighted as a China-U.S.-Thailand joint operation, extends the pattern of the CCG selectively publicizing bilateral enforcement cooperation with the United States even amid broader bilateral friction, raising the question of how the CCG manages the boundary between its law enforcement and sovereignty-assertion roles in these multilateral settings.

Translation

Xinhua News Agency, Fuzhou, May 21 (Sun Chongfeng, Xu Fuze) — The working-level meeting of the 22nd Heads of Asian Coast Guard Agencies Meeting (HACGAM) closed on the 21st in Quanzhou, Fujian.

In response to new challenges including a rebound in smuggling of persons and the increasingly covert and intelligentized (智能化) nature of smuggling activities, the China Coast Guard (CCG) has continued to intensify maritime law enforcement and, at the meeting, called on all parties to deepen information sharing, law enforcement cooperation, and mechanism-building in order to construct an efficient and coordinated maritime law enforcement community (海上执法共同体), jointly fortify the security barrier across maritime domains, and collectively uphold regional security and stability.

Since the beginning of 2025, the CCG has cracked seven major maritime drug smuggling cases, seizing 11.5 tons of narcotics, all originating from overseas drug source areas. Among these, the "February 24" major drug smuggling case resulted in the seizure of 4.973 tons of methamphetamine, demonstrating the significant results of joint law enforcement among China, the United States, and Thailand. During the same period, more than 150 cases of illegal border crossing were detected, exhibiting characteristics of two-way smuggling of persons; cases involving maritime smuggling of frozen goods, cigarettes, refined petroleum products, and other commodities were also seized, with a total case value of approximately 1 billion yuan.

The meeting was attended by more than 80 participants, including representatives from maritime law enforcement agencies of 16 countries and regions such as Australia, Bahrain, the Republic of Korea, and Vietnam, two international organizations, and relevant Chinese authorities. Maritime law enforcement agencies from the United Kingdom and New Zealand attended as observers.

The meeting convened working group sessions on topics including the regional maritime security situation, prevention and suppression of transnational maritime crime, maritime search and rescue, marine ecological and environmental protection, and law enforcement information sharing and capacity-building, conducting in-depth and substantive consultations.

All participating parties agreed that current maritime security challenges in the Asian region are diverse and complex, and that strengthening multilateral law enforcement cooperation is the inevitable choice for maintaining regional maritime security and stability and ensuring sustainable maritime development. All parties expressed willingness to continuously deepen communication and cooperation, enhance joint response capabilities, and achieve universal security and sustainable security through the joint building of blue partnerships (蓝色伙伴关系).

Original Chinese

新华社福州5月21日电（孙崇峰、许富泽）第22届亚洲地区海岸警备机构高官会工作级会议21日在福建泉州闭幕。针对偷渡活动反弹、走私行为隐蔽化智能化等新挑战，中国海警局持续加大海上执法力度，并在会上呼吁各方深化信息共享、执法协作、机制建设，构建高效协同的海上执法共同体，携手筑牢海域安全屏障，合力维护区域安全稳定。 2025年以来，中国海警局侦破特大海上走私毒品案7起，缴获毒品11.5吨，均来自境外毒源地；其中“2·24”特大走私毒品案缴获甲基苯丙胺4.973吨，彰显中美泰三国联合执法重要成果。同期查获偷渡案件150余起，呈现双向偷渡特点；查获海上走私冻品、香烟、成品油等案件，涉案价值约10亿元。这次会议有来自澳大利亚、巴林、韩国、越南等16个国家（地区）海上执法机构、2个国际组织代表及中方有关部门共80余人参加，英国、新西兰海上执法机构作为观察员列席。会议围绕地区海上安全形势、预防和打击海上跨国犯罪、海上搜救、海洋生态环境保护、执法信息共享与执法能力建设等议题开展工作组会议，进行深入务实磋商。与会各方一致认为，当前亚洲地区海上安全挑战多元复杂，加强多边执法合作是维护地区海洋安全稳定、保障海洋可持续发展的必然选择。各方愿持续深化沟通协作，提升联合应对能力，通过共建蓝色伙伴关系实现普遍安全、可持续安全。