(The Turkish Post) – The Taiwan coast guard said on Oct. 18 it had driven away 16 Chinese vessels carrying out coordinated maritime harassment around the main island and the Pratas Islands, describing the operation as a form of hybrid warfare.
The coast guard called the number of ships unusually large and said the vessels acted at several locations at once. Some of them entered Taiwan’s restricted waters, it said, before being pushed back.
Taiwan coast guard drives off 16 Chinese vessels
The Taiwan coast guard said the 16 ships included coast guard, research and fishing vessels, among them four fishing boats. It said it took forceful action immediately to neutralize the threats off the island’s eastern, southern and southwestern coasts.
The figure did not include Chinese warships, which the mainland’s military sends near Taiwan almost daily. Taipei said the coordinated movement of civilian and government ships was an attempt to pressure the island by other means.
What Taipei calls maritime harassment
The coast guard described the activity as maritime harassment and said Beijing was trying to normalize its presence in waters Taiwan controls. The incident centered on the main island and the Pratas Islands, a Taiwan-held atoll in the northern South China Sea known in Chinese as Dongsha.
The Pratas Islands sit along key shipping lanes in the South China Sea and are held by a small Taiwanese garrison. Their distance from the main island, about 400 kilometers to the southwest, makes them hard to defend and a frequent focus of Chinese activity.
Taiwan’s coast guard has reported a rising number of Chinese fishing and sand-dredging vessels near its outlying islands in recent months. Officials say such ships can gather intelligence and test response times while staying below the level of a military incident, complicating any response.
On Oct. 1, the Taiwan coast guard used a water cannon against a Chinese recreational fishing vessel near Pratas, drawing an angry response from Beijing. Taipei says such episodes are part of a wider effort to wear down its defenses and test its responses.
A pattern of hybrid warfare at sea
Taiwan has accused China of waging hybrid warfare that blends military, paramilitary and civilian pressure below the threshold of open conflict. The approach, officials say, lets Beijing probe Taiwan’s reactions while denying any act of aggression.
Taipei has accused Beijing of trying to unilaterally change the status quo across the Taiwan Strait. The coast guard said Chinese fleets increasingly use civilian and quasi-official ships, rather than warships, to assert claims while avoiding direct military confrontation.
The coast guard said it had sent additional patrol ships to monitor the Chinese vessels and shadowed them until they left. Crews recorded the movements and warned the ships over radio to leave Taiwan’s waters, it said.
The government has urged crews to document the movements and report incursions. The coast guard said it would keep patrolling the approaches to the main island and the outlying areas Taiwan administers.
Tensions rise across the Taiwan Strait
China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has not ruled out taking it by force. President Lai Ching-te has said higher defense spending is meant to deter war with China rather than provoke it, and his government has increased the military budget.
China regularly sends military aircraft and navy ships across the midline of the Taiwan Strait and into the island’s air defense identification zone. Taipei logs the incursions daily and says the pressure has intensified over the past year.
Beijing holds near-daily air and naval operations around the island and has staged large drills in recent years. Taiwan says it will keep defending its waters and airspace while avoiding escalation, and the coast guard said further incidents were likely in the weeks ahead.
