TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Taiwanese and US coast guards are cooperating to maintain peace in the Indo-Pacific, Ocean Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said in a Radio Taiwan International interview on Thursday.

Kuan said the Coast Guard Administration has substantive cooperation with the US Coast Guard, per an OAC press release. “The United States has been helping for a long time and has never left,” she said, adding that without US support, the CGA would not be as capable today.

Kuan said China’s maritime ambitions are not confined to the First Island Chain, but extend to international waters. This, she said, underscores Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s attempt to challenge US global leadership and disrupt peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific. “Its intention to become a global maritime hegemon is already plain to see,” she said.

Kuan added that US President Donald Trump’s call for strategic partners to shoulder defense responsibilities reflects a new strategic way of thinking in response to China’s rapid and forceful military rise. “The United States, from being the sole superpower, is coming down to join hands with everyone as a partner,” she said.

Kuan said that as China becomes stronger and more unpredictable, Taiwan needs to partner with regional countries to form “a chain of peace” to uphold stability.