Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration said Sunday it expelled 16 Chinese coast guard, research and fishing vessels that conducted simultaneous operations around Taiwan proper and the Pratas Islands, with several hulls crossing into restricted waters. Taipei labeled the deployment an unusually large “maritime harassment” push and said Beijing is using hybrid pressure to suggest jurisdiction Taipei does not recognize.
Where the encounters occurred
According to the agency’s statement, Chinese units operated off Taiwan’s eastern, southern and southwestern coasts as well as near Pratas in the northern South China Sea. The fleet included four fishing boats alongside government and coast guard craft. Some vessels entered zones Taiwan treats as restricted, prompting Taiwanese patrol ships to take “forceful action” to neutralize what commanders described as threats.
The incident followed an October 1 confrontation in which Taiwanese crews used water cannons against a Chinese recreational fishing boat near Pratas. Chinese authorities had warned of consequences after that episode, and Sunday’s multi-point deployment appeared timed to test response capacity across several sea lines at once.
How Taipei framed the operation
Coast guard officials said China is attempting to “unilaterally alter the status quo across the Taiwan Strait” and create a false impression of control. The administration condemned the maneuvers in the strongest terms and said such actions would deepen public resentment on the island rather than intimidate residents into compliance.
Beijing has expanded law-enforcement patrols east of Taiwan since June, which Taipei previously branded as provocative expansionism. Official tallies show Chinese non-military hull counts rising from dozens per month in mid-2025 to more than 240 coast guard and research ships detected around the main island in July 2026, with roughly 60 percent identified as coast guard platforms.
Military tracking continues
Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense reported separate activity through Monday morning, detecting five Chinese military aircraft, six warships and nine government vessels around the strait. Three aircraft crossed the median line into northern, central and southwestern airspace, including helicopters and fighters monitored by Taiwanese mission aircraft and shore-based missile systems.
The defense ministry’s daily release does not double-count every coast guard hull in the harassment tally, but officers said Sunday’s civilian-government surge overlapped with familiar military probes. Markets reacted separately: Taiwan’s weighted index opened more than 800 points lower Monday as foreign investors continued selling semiconductor-heavy listings and the Taiwan dollar weakened past 32.5 to the U.S. dollar.
What comes next
Legislative committees in Taipei are already debating defense procurement backlogs and coast guard modernization funds. Sunday’s coordinated push gives proponents of faster patrol-boat deliveries fresh evidence that grey-zone operations are scaling faster than peacetime budgeting assumed.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office has not issued a detailed response to the expulsions as of Monday afternoon Taipei time. For now, the measurable change is operational: 16 hulls approached in one day, restricted waters were breached, and Taiwanese patrols forced each group to withdraw without reporting injuries to either side.