Taiwan drives away 16 Chinese vessels in coordinated maritime harassment around main island and Pratas

Taiwan says it has confronted and driven away 16 Chinese coastguard, research and fishing vessels in what it described as coordinated maritime harassment around its main island and the disputed Pratas Islands. The Taiwanese coastguard said the vessels were involved in simultaneous operations that it characterised as hybrid warfare. It said some of the ships entered restricted waters and that its own vessels took immediate action to neutralise the threat.

According to the coastguard statement, the Chinese vessels included four fishing boats and were part of what it called an unusually large deployment. Taipei accused Beijing of trying to alter the status quo in the Taiwan Strait and create a false impression of jurisdiction over the surrounding waters. The incident was reported on Sunday, with the coastguard saying the response was forceful and immediate.

The episode adds to a pattern of maritime pressure that Taiwan says has intensified in recent months. In July, Taiwanese official data showed a record 244 coastguard, scientific research and other ships around Taiwan's main island, compared with 58 in the same month a year earlier. In the first 21 days of August, Taiwan detected 152 vessels, most of them from the Chinese coastguard, alongside fishing boats and research vessels.

China also sends warships around Taiwan on a near-daily basis, although those are counted separately. The latest confrontation matters because it comes amid continuing tension over sovereignty, jurisdiction and control of the waters around Taiwan. Beijing claims Taiwan and Pratas as part of its territory and says it has authority over the surrounding waters, a position Taipei rejects.

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Taiwan's coastguard framed the activity as part of a broader effort to pressure the island without open military confrontation, using civilian and law-enforcement vessels alongside other maritime assets. Pratas, also known as Dongsha, is a disputed island to the southwest of Taiwan's main island and has become one of the focal points of these encounters. The coastguard said the Chinese vessels were operating in coordinated fashion around both areas, reinforcing Taipei's view that the activity is deliberate rather than accidental.

The reference to hybrid warfare reflects Taiwan's concern that repeated maritime incursions are being used to test responses and normalise a stronger Chinese presence. The latest incident also follows an earlier confrontation on 1 October, when Taiwan's coastguard fired water cannon at a Chinese recreational fishing vessel near Pratas. That episode showed how quickly disputes in the area can escalate even when the vessels involved are not military ships.

What remains unclear is how long the latest deployment lasted, whether any vessels sustained damage, and whether Beijing will respond publicly. The next developments to watch are any further coastguard encounters, changes in vessel numbers around Taiwan, and whether either side signals a shift in its maritime posture.

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