\n<\/p>\n
China is drilling for oil and gas inside Taiwan\u2019s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), a move that analysts believe is likely part of Beijing\u2019s unilateral grab for disputed territory that could also aid a future invasion of Taiwan.<\/p>\n
During July and August at least 12 oil and gas vessels and permanent structures were detected inside Taiwan\u2019s EEZ \u2013 including one within 50km of the restricted-waters border of the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands \u2013 as well as several steel supports for fixed offshore drilling platforms, called jackets. Their presence inside Taiwan\u2019s EEZ have not been previously reported.<\/p>\n
Experts said the activity fit the pattern of Beijing\u2019s \u201cgreyzone\u201d strategies for seizing disputed territory. Beijing claims the entirety of the South China Sea, despite The Hague ruling the claim unlawful in 2016. Beijing also claims Taiwan is a province of China, and in preparation to forcibly annexe it has ramped up a campaign of \u201csalami slicing\u201d Taiwan\u2019s territory, forcibly shrinking the space that Taipei can control and defend.<\/p>\n
\u201cChina\u2019s greyzone aggression routinely leverages commercial activity for expansionist goals,\u201d said Ray Powell, director of SeaLight, a maritime transparency project at Stanford University.<\/p>\n
The presence of Chinese vessels and structures in the EEZ was first identified in research published on Tuesday by US thinktank the Jamestown Foundation, which said they were owned by the state-run China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC).<\/p>\n
However, there is no sign of the Taiwan government having responded to it, despite frequently enforcing its EEZ elsewhere.<\/p>\n
The apparent lack of response has surprised analysts. \u201cFailure to protest today risks normalising sovereignty shaving and encourages further encroachment,\u201d the Jamestown report warned.<\/p>\n
The assets are large \u2013 including at least one vessel measuring more than 240m long with decks equivalent to 1.5 football fields, and two of the largest wellhead platforms in Asia. The report found some had been there for at least five years, with one coming within a kilometre of the Pratas restricted-waters border in 2024. <\/strong>The Guardian has independently located most of the assets using civilian maritime tracking websites.<\/p>\n <\/span>At least 12 Chinese owned oil and gas exploration structures have been detected inside Taiwan\u2019s exclusive economic zone, including this permanent deep water drilling platform, believed to be one of the biggest in Asia, captured by radar imagery in August 2025.<\/span> Photograph: Umbra<\/p>\n Challenging the oil and gas activity in Taiwan\u2019s EEZ would be difficult. Taiwan\u2019s political status meant it is not party to the UN convention on the law of the sea (Unclos) or its arbitration mechanisms. Domestic law about which parts of the EEZ border Taiwan enforces is unclear and it does not have the maritime strength to challenge such activity.<\/p>\n \u201cMy guess is that Taipei lacked capabilities to respond, and that explains why they didn\u2019t,\u201d said Bonnie Glaser, managing director of the Indo-Pacific program at the US-based German Marshall Fund.<\/p>\n \u201cPerhaps they underestimated how extensive it would be.\u201d<\/p>\n CNOOC describes itself as \u201cone of the largest independent oil and gas exploration and production companies in the world\u201d. It engages in numerous joint ventures with foreign firms, including with Taiwan\u2019s CPC, although Taiwan\u2019s ministry said there are currently no active contracts.<\/p>\n But as a state-owned firm, it also works in the interests of Beijing\u2019s political ambitions. In 2012, CNOOC\u2019s chair, Wang Yilin, said in a speech: \u201cLarge-scale deep-water rigs are our mobile national territory and a strategic weapon,\u201d according to the Wall Street Journal.<\/p>\n CNOOC was approached for comment.<\/p>\n Prof Zhu Feng, from the Tsinghua University\u2019s centre for international security and strategy, said China\u2019s oil and gas exploration was \u201cprimarily driven by its current energy needs\u201d and was not intended to further escalate territorial disputes.<\/p>\n \u201cRather it reflects China\u2019s strong stance in safeguarding its claimed rights and interests in the region,\u201d Zhu told the Guardian.<\/p>\n Such activity has previously drawn the ire of other governments.<\/p>\n This week Japan\u2019s government accused Beijing of positioning 21 drilling rigs inside the Japanese EEZ, in an alleged \u201cunilateral\u201d effort to develop gas fields in disputed waters of the East China Sea and potentially extract gas from the Japanese side.<\/p>\n The Jamestown report warned that structures like the jackets also had potential for dual use by China\u2019s military, and \u201ccould facilitate a full range of coercion, blockade, bombardment and\/or invasion scenarios against Pratas or Taiwan more generally\u201d.<\/p>\n In the five years since these assets were first moved into the EEZ, Beijing has ramped up a campaign to weaken Taiwan\u2019s control over its territorial space, with military drills and incursions, and coast guard patrols in the restricted waters around Taiwan\u2019s offshore islands.<\/p>\n \u201cChina has been steadily overwhelming Taiwan\u2019s defences with aggressions much nearer their shores, which may make this something they\u2019d simply rather not have to deal with,\u201d Powell said.<\/p>\n \u201cOften governments don\u2019t publicly respond to aggressions if they think making such complaints would beg the question of what else they can do about it.\u201d<\/p>\n The Guardian contacted Taiwan\u2019s national security council for comment. It also contacted the ministry of economic affairs, which referred most questions to Taiwan\u2019s ocean affairs council. The council declined to comment. Taiwan\u2019s coast guard said it \u201cmaintains continuous monitoring of maritime targets within its surveillance area\u201d but that oil drilling exploration and cooperations were outside its remit.<\/p>\n China\u2019s ministry of foreign affairs did not respond to a faxed request for comment.<\/p>\n Additional research by Lillian Yang and Jason Tzu Kuan Lu<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" China is drilling for oil and gas inside Taiwan\u2019s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), a move that analysts believe is likely part of Beijing\u2019s unilateral grab for disputed territory that could also aid a future invasion of Taiwan. 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