TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Coast Guard Administration spotted a Chinese vessel on Wednesday surveying Kinmen's restricted waters and drove out four Chinese coast guard ships from the area the next day.
The CGA said that at around 3 p.m., a patrol boat was sent to expel the Chinese research vessel Yan Ping No. 2. It noticed the vessel had deployed underwater surveying instruments and was suspected of conducting underwater detection operations.
The patrol boat gathered evidence and broadcast a warning, demanding the Yan Ping immediately retrieve the equipment. The ship responded that it would comply and ceased operations, retrieving the instruments.
By 3:52 p.m., two CGA patrol boats had escorted the Yan Ping out of the restricted waters, 5.5 kilometers (3 NM) southeast of Dongding Island. It continued to sail away.
The CGA said the Chinese vessel's exploration activities were not purely for scientific research purposes. It said there is reason to suspect it was collecting data on seabed geology, topography, and hydrology to assist with future combat deployments.
The CGA strongly condemned China's use of research and survey vessels to make incursions in Taiwan's waters. It said it would expel intruding vessels.
On Thursday, the CGA detected multiple Chinese coast guard ships at around 2 p.m. The CGA immediately deployed four patrol boats to the area.
At 2:50 p.m., four Chinese coast guard vessels approached the southern waters off Kinmen from the open sea and entered Taiwan's waters from two locations: southwest of Liaoluo and Zhaishan.
The CGA broadcast radio warnings in both Mandarin and English, demanding the coast guard vessels change course and leave. The Chinese vessels exited Kinmen's restricted waters at around 5 p.m.
The CGA said that China's gray zone harassment tactics have seen Chinese coast guard vessels intrude into Kinmen's waters 61 times since February 2024.
