‘Hybrid warfare’: Taiwan drives away 16 Chinese ships
Coastguard, research and fishing vessels operated simultaneously around Taiwan and Pratas island. Taipei accuses Beijing of trying to unilaterally change the status quo in the Taiwan Strait.
Archive image · Photo: Mori / Office of the President (中華民國總統府) / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 (cropped and resized)
Taiwan's coastguard said it drove away 16 Chinese vessels involved in simultaneous “maritime harassment”. They included coastguard, research and fishing ships operating around Taiwan's main island and the disputed Pratas (Dongsha) island to the southwest. The coastguard called the number “unusually large” and described the operations as “hybrid warfare”. Some vessels entered Taiwan's restricted waters.
The coastguard said it took “forceful action immediately”. It accused Beijing of trying to unilaterally change the status quo in the Taiwan Strait and to create a false impression of jurisdiction. China claims Taiwan and Pratas as its territory; Taipei rejects this.
Pressure at sea is rising, according to Taiwanese figures: in July, Taiwan counted a record 244 coastguard, research and other ships around the main island, compared with 58 in the same month a year earlier. On October 1, the coastguard fired water cannon at a Chinese recreational fishing boat near Pratas.