Taiwan Drives Away Chinese Coast Guard Near Matsu, Kinmen Islands in Retaliation

As Chinese vessels breached restricted waters near Taiwan on Thursday, the Taiwanese Coast Guard swiftly responded by driving them away and deploying patrol boats to collect evidence, as per reports from Focus Taiwan.

This occurred after Chinese ships entered restricted waters near Taiwan-controlled outlying islands Dongyin in Matsu and Wuqiu in Kinmen earlier that morning. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) stated that China Coast Guard ships, numbered “14607” and “14509,” intruded into Dongyin’s restricted waters at 7:48 am, accompanied by ship “14517” at the outer perimeter.

The CGA dispatched patrol boats PP-3586, PP-3571, and PP-10037 to monitor, warn, and expel the vessels. Subsequently, the Chinese ships exited the restricted waters by 8:53 am. Furthermore, CGA detected China Coast Guard ships “14606” and “14506” breaching restricted waters near Wuqiu, Kinmen, in the morning, with ship “14502” at the outer perimeter. Patrol boats PP-10039 from Kinmen and PP-10035 from Taichung were dispatched, prompting the Chinese vessels to leave Wuqiu’s waters by 8:45 am.

CGA reported that Chinese Coast Guard ships deliberately trespassed around outlying islands seven times in May, posing risks to maritime safety and regional stability. The CGA called on China to exhibit restraint and halt these actions to safeguard Taiwan’s sovereignty and security.

It highlighted that the restricted and prohibited waters are demarcated by Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense since 1992, with “prohibited waters” denoting territorial waters and “restricted waters” being a contiguous zone outside territorial seas for law enforcement purposes.