TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Three Chinese government ships appeared near Taiwan’s offshore island of Matsu, with one approaching a distance of 5.5 nautical miles, reports said Wednesday (Feb. 21).

The news was the latest in a series of incidents following the death of two Chinese nationals after their unregistered vessel capsized during a chase by the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) on Feb. 14. Until Wednesday afternoon, the appearances by Chinese ships focused on Kinmen County, while the latest incidents occurred further north along the coast of China’s Fujian Province.

Two of the vessels near Matsu were operated by China’s maritime police, while the third one was a surveillance ship, per CNA. It was one of the police vessels that came within 5.5 nautical miles of Matsu’s Nangan Island.

The 1,500-ton, 90-meter-long surveillance ship was identified by China as the Haijian 8001, operated by the province of Fujian. It approached Nangan from the west at around 3:50 p.m.

The police ships appeared around 5:30 p.m. to the east and southwest of Nangan, but two other maritime police vessels were also found 6 to 7 nautical miles south of Kinmen after 6 p.m.

After the Feb. 14 capsizing, China said it did not recognize the Taiwanese islands’ maritime boundaries, while the United States called for restraint to avoid escalation.