Ocean Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said in a Facebook post on Wednesday, April 8, that publishing information on Chinese naval vessels at sea near Taiwan serves an important public interest. This came in response to media reports that the Council’s publishing of maritime situation maps constituted a leak of classified information.

Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration further clarified that the raw data had been declassified, so no secret or sensitive information had been leaked.

Kuan said that in the face of China’s gray zone incursions, exposing and making them transparent has become a crucial countermeasure for Taiwan and the international community. This “naming and shaming” is intended to deter China from establishing a “new normal” in maritime harassment operations.