Mon, Jun 01, 2026 page1

• CGA warns of increase in Chinese incursions

  • By Chiu Chun-fu and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writer
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  The China Coast Guard has increased patrols near Taiwan’s Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) since February 2024, increasing from occasional transits to more than 30 transits annually, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said.

  On Feb. 14, 2024, a Chinese speedboat illegally entered prohibited waters near Kinmen County and refused inspection by coast guard personnel before fleeing.

  During a subsequent pursuit, the vessel capsized, resulting in the deaths of two Chinese crew members.

  

  A Coast Guard Administration member uses a night-vision reconnaissance system to monitor China Coast Guard vessel 3501 in an undated photograph.

  Photo courtesy of the CGA

  Since then, Beijing has adjusted the frequency, timing and bearing of its incursions near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙島) to study Taiwan’s response patterns, the coast guard said.

  The actions are part of China’s multifaceted “gray zone” pressure campaign involving military, legal, information and psychological elements, it said, warning that the strategy aims to drain Taiwan’s resources, gauge its responses, and expand China’s presence and help it prepare for potential future operations.

  China’s incursions have become more deliberate and strategic, typically involving one or two Chinese coast guard ships repeatedly maneuvering along the edge of restricted waters or circling the area to tie up Taiwanese enforcement resources, the agency said.

  

  Pratas Island is pictured in an undated photograph.

  Photo courtesy of Chen Ching-neng

  Chinese coast guard vessels have repeatedly switched off their automatic identification system (AIS) transponders to conceal their movements and test Taiwan’s surveillance capabilities, it said.

  In response, Taiwan has dispatched patrol vessels to shadow the Chinese ships on a one-to-one basis, escorting them out of restricted waters while issuing radio warnings in Chinese and English, it added.

  The two sides have frequently engaged in tense radio exchanges over sovereignty claims, the agency said.

  There was an escalation last year, when several Chinese fishing vessels entered waters near Pratas Island and launched small boats into the atoll to engage in illegal fishing, it said.

  While CGA vessels were expelling the boats, two Chinese coast guard vessels simultaneously conducted an incursion, it added.

  One of the Chinese coast guard vessels sailed within 21.7 nautical miles (40.2km) of Pratas Island, allegedly to inspect one of the Chinese fishing boats, the agency said.

  The fishing vessel stopped in apparent cooperation with the Chinese coast guard ship before the vessels eventually departed after repeated warnings from Taiwanese coast guard personnel, it added.

  Kinmen has remained the primary focus of Chinese coast guard incursions over the past few years, apart from involvement with large-scale military exercises, the agency said.

  Since the February 2024 incident, Chinese coast guard vessels have entered waters near Kinmen on 117 occasions, generally in the form of four-vessel formations entering, it said, adding that China had been entering restricted waters about four times a month.

  Those operations are usually conducted under the guise of “law enforcement patrols” and involve a variety of formations and routes near the islands of Liaoluo (料羅), Lieyu (烈嶼), Shaxibao (沙溪堡) and Dadan (大膽), the agency said.

  Chinese vessels engaged in these probes sometimes switch off their AIS transponders to conceal their movements, it said, adding that such operations are designed to create complex scenarios under varying sea and weather conditions to test Taiwan’s monitoring and response capabilities.

  The agency said it recorded 52 incursions in 2024, 46 last year and 19 so far this year.

  In each case, Taiwanese coast guard patrol vessels were sortied to conduct one-to-one monitoring, gather evidence and issue warnings ordering foreign vessels to leave restricted waters, it added.

  On the morning of Wednesday last week, four Chinese coast guard vessels approached waters south of Liaoluo, the agency said.

  Coast Guard Administration patrol vessels were sent to the restricted-water boundary, and about one hour later, the Chinese vessels entered Taiwan’s restricted waters south of Liaoluo and Zhaishan (翟山) in two separate groups, prompting Taiwanese vessels to begin close monitoring and issue warnings, it said.

  China’s continued incursions and subsequent false information campaigns aim to create the impression that Beijing exercises jurisdiction over waters around Kinmen, and to support broader cognitive warfare efforts, the agency said.

  The Coast Guard Administration said it would continue to publish notices about such incidents and counter what it described as false and misleading narratives.
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