Coast guard MOU first step toward an alliance By Huang Wei-ping 黃惟冰 On March 25, Taiwan and the US signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to establish a coast guard working group. In the past few years, the Coast Guard Administration has increasingly taken on the role of an auxiliary navy, while the US Coast Guard operates as one of the six branches of the US armed forces. The MOU is not only the first joint agreement between Taiwan and the US under the administration of US President Joe Biden, it also represents a significant first step toward the formation of a quasi-military alliance between the two nations.