The Taiwanese and Chinese coast guards had a standoff near the strategically located Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the north of the South China Sea, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday.
The two sides engaged in intense radio exchanges over sovereignty claims during the 33-hour standoff. China Coast Guard vessel 3501 eventually left the restricted waters, 26.6 nautical miles (49.2km) west of the Pratas Islands, at 5pm yesterday, the CGA said.
Lying approximately between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Taiwan-controlled Pratas are seen by some security experts as vulnerable to Chinese attack due to their distance — more than 400km from Taiwan proper.
Photo courtesy of the CGA
The CGA said on Saturday it had spotted China Coast Guard vessel 3501 heading to the Pratas and immediately sent its own ship, which broadcast warnings, and the two sides “engaged in an intense verbal confrontation over sovereignty via radio.”
The Chinese ship broadcast that it was on a routine mission.
“The People’s Republic of China has sovereignty and jurisdiction over the Dongsha Islands,” it broadcast. “Our vessel is conducting a routine patrol mission. Please do not interfere with our operations.”
The CGA ship responded, according to video provided by the government.
“Your actions only show that China’s so-called ‘peace’ is a deception, and the international community will not support you. Do not undermine peace; instead, you should return and pursue democracy, which is the proper way to serve your country,” the CGA ship broadcast. “You are instructed to immediately change course and leave our waters. Otherwise, our vessel will take necessary action in accordance with the law.”
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office did not respond to a request for comment.
China’s wording on having jurisdiction and sovereignty was unusual, as was the length of its stay in the waters so close to the Pratas, said a CGA official, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation.
The coast guard said on Friday night it had driven off the Chinese research ship Tongji (同濟號) in waters close to the island for the second time this month.
The Pratas atoll, which is also a national park, is only lightly defended, protected by the coast guard rather than the military.
In January, the government said a Chinese reconnaissance drone flew over the Pratas.
According to the CGA, China operates more than 120 oceanographic research vessels, which have been increasingly active across the Indo-Pacific, including about 41 operating near Taiwan.
It added that over the past three years, their range has expanded from the First Island Chain to the Second Island Chain, reaching as far as Guam, and even into the Third Island Chain, including Hawaii.
On Saturday, National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) detailed the 100 Chinese ships operating in the First Island Chain in a social media post.
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