‘Hybrid warfare’: Taiwan forces 16 Chinese vessels to retreat

Taiwan’s coastguard announced that it confronted and drove away 16 Chinese ships – a mix of coastguard, research and fishing vessels – that it said were carrying out coordinated “maritime harassment” operations. The coastguard described the presence of an “unusually large” group of Chinese vessels around Taiwan’s main island and the disputed Pratas (Dongsha) islands as a case of hybrid warfare.

In a statement released on Sunday, the coastguard said its ships took “forceful action immediately to effectively neutralise the threats” and accused Beijing of “attempting to unilaterally alter the status quo” in the Taiwan Strait and of creating a “false impression of jurisdiction”. Four of the vessels were identified as fishing boats that took part in the simultaneous actions.

Some of the Chinese ships entered waters that Taiwan has designated as restricted. Beijing claims both Taiwan and the Pratas islands as part of its territory and asserts jurisdiction over the surrounding seas, a claim that Taipei rejects. China has long warned that it could use force to bring Taiwan under its control.

Earlier in the month, on October 1, Taiwan’s coastguard fired water cannons at a Chinese recreational fishing vessel near the Pratas islands, an area claimed by both sides. In recent months, Beijing has stepped up maritime pressure on Taiwan. Official data show that in July it deployed a record 244 coastguard, scientific and other vessels around Taiwan’s main island, compared with just 58 in the same month a year earlier. In the first 21 days of August, 152 vessels were detected, most of them Chinese coastguard ships, along with fishing and research boats. Warships are also sent around Taiwan on an almost daily basis, but those are counted separately.