Taiwan’s coast guard announced on Sunday that it had expelled four Chinese government vessels from restricted waters off the island’s southern coast after a tense maritime confrontation marked by exchanged radio warnings, highlighting escalating tensions across the Taiwan Strait.
According to Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration, four Chinese vessels—including three coast guard ships—entered Taiwan’s restricted waters approximately 30 nautical miles southwest of the island’s southern tip on Sunday afternoon. In response, Taiwan deployed seven coast guard vessels to monitor and challenge the Chinese ships.
Taiwan said the Chinese vessels were subsequently forced to leave the restricted area following the operation.
The incident comes a day after Chinese state media reported that Beijing had launched a “special maritime traffic law-enforcement operation” in waters east of Taiwan. The move was widely viewed as a response to a recent announcement by Japan and the Philippines that they would begin formal negotiations to delimit their maritime boundary, a development China believes involves waters adjacent to Taiwan.
Audio recordings released by Taiwan’s coast guard captured a Chinese officer warning Taiwanese vessels that the waters were under Chinese jurisdiction and that Chinese authorities were conducting an official maritime law-enforcement mission.
A Taiwanese coast guard officer responded by rejecting China’s claim, stating that Beijing holds no sovereign rights over the waters east of Taiwan. The officer further warned that any conflict could invite international sanctions and emphasized that regional stability was essential for development.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office did not immediately comment on the incident.
The maritime standoff follows a noticeable increase in Chinese coast guard activity around Taiwan in recent weeks, including encounters near the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands in the northern South China Sea. China already maintains an almost daily military presence around Taiwan through air and naval operations.
Reacting to the latest developments, Taiwan National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu criticized Beijing’s actions on social media, describing the People’s Republic of China as “a big fat bully.”
China considers Taiwan part of its territory and has never ruled out the use of force to achieve unification. Taiwan’s government, however, firmly rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims and maintains that only the island’s people can determine their future.
The latest confrontation underscores the growing geopolitical tensions in the region, where maritime disputes, sovereignty claims, and strategic rivalries continue to shape security dynamics in the Indo-Pacific.
