TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Coast Guard Administration on Wednesday refuted China’s claim that the Fujian Coast Guard conducted routine law enforcement patrols near Kinmen, adding it expelled four Chinese coast guard vessels from Taiwan’s restricted waters over two consecutive days.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, the Coast Guard detected Chinese coast guard ships gathering off the eastern coast of Kinmen’s Beiding Island, showing signs of intentional intrusion. Patrol boats were pushed forward to intercept, sailing alongside the Chinese vessels to block their advance and prevent them from entering Taiwan’s territorial waters.

At 3 p.m. on Tuesday, four Chinese coast guard ships entered Taiwan’s waters southeast of Kinmen’s Liaoluo Bay and proceeded westward in single-file formation. The Coast Guard rapidly dispatched four patrol vessels and forced the Chinese ships to exit the restricted zone by 5 p.m.

Less than 24 hours later, the same four vessels again entered Kinmen waters at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, this time with their Automatic Identification System turned off in an apparent attempt to evade detection. Despite this, they were identified by the Coast Guard, which immediately dispatched four patrol boats to respond.

The Coast Guard used Chinese and English radio broadcasts to demand the ships turn away. Under close escort and monitoring, the Chinese vessels left the restricted waters by 11:05 a.m.

The Coast Guard said Chinese ships have been using gray zone tactics to intrude into Taiwan’s waters on a near-monthly basis, often disabling AIS to undermine surveillance. It accused Beijing of engaging in routine harassment under the pretext of law enforcement patrols.