TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Coast Guard Administration said Sunday that Chinese coast guard vessels have stepped up incursions into waters around Dongsha Island, warning that the activity has developed into sustained gray-zone pressure aimed at testing Taiwan’s response and expanding China’s presence.
Following a Feb. 14, 2024 incident in which a Chinese speedboat capsized near restricted waters around Kinmen, resulting in two fatalities, Chinese coast guard vessels began intruding into Kinmen waters, per Liberty Times. Similar tactics were later extended to Dongsha waters starting last February.
The Coast Guard said that since then, one to two Chinese coast guard vessels have repeatedly loitered or circled along the edge of Dongsha’s restricted waters on irregular routes, with AIS systems sometimes switched off to conceal their movements. Taiwan has responded by deploying patrol vessels to closely shadow the ships one-to-one and push them out of restricted waters.
From February last year to May 28, there were 39 incursions involving 12 vessels, including 33 incursions last year and six so far this year, Liberty Times reported. In one incident on March 12 last year, multiple Chinese fishing boats entered Dongsha waters and deployed small boats to fish illegally inside the atoll, prompting Taiwan to send patrol vessels to drive them out.
During the same operation, two Chinese coast guard vessels were also present, with one approaching to within 21.7 nautical miles (40 km) southwest of Dongsha Island in an apparent attempt to board a fishing vessel under inspection. The fishing boat complied with the coast guard vessel, but after repeated warnings from Taiwanese patrol ships, both the coast guard vessel and fishing boat withdrew.
The Coast Guard said China’s actions may be intended to test Taiwan’s deployment patterns around Dongsha by using fishing vessels in coordination with coast guard operations, intensifying gray-zone pressure and creating a false appearance of lawful enforcement, according to Liberty Times.
