Taipei donates coastguard vessel to Manila amid South China Sea tensions

Taiwan has quietly acknowledged donating a coastguard vessel to the Philippines, potentially adding to Manila’s maritime patrol capacity amid its long-running stand-off with Beijing in the South China Sea.

Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration said on Wednesday that “this case” was being handled in line with previous transfers of vessels to the Marshall Islands, Palau and Tuvalu.

Unlike those three Pacific states, which all maintain formal diplomatic ties with Taipei, the Philippines recognises...