Follow-Up: China Coast Guard Ship 3102 Enters Dongsha Restricted Waters With AIS Off; Taiwan Patrol Ship Taichung Shadows It as Both Sides Trade Radio Broadcasts
Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration (CGA) Southeast Branch said in a press release on October 20 that its Dongsha Command detected China Coast Guard vessel 3102 southeast of the Dongsha (Pratas) Islands at about 5 a.m. that day. The vessel had not switched on its Automatic Identification System (AIS) and was sailing "dark" toward restricted waters designated by Taiwan. At about 8 a.m., the 3102 entered restricted waters northeast of Dongsha Island, where Taiwan coast guard patrol ship Taichung moved alongside to monitor it and repeatedly broadcast warnings in Chinese and English ordering it to leave. The CGA said the standoff was still under way when the release was issued.
According to the CGA, the Chinese vessel addressed the Taichung as the "China Taiwan Taichung ship" in its broadcasts and said that "the so-called Republic of China does not exist." The Taichung replied that "the Republic of China, Taiwan, is a sovereign and independent country," said the Republic of China and the People's Republic of China are not subordinate to each other, and ordered the vessel to change course and leave at once, saying its unauthorized entry had affected maritime order and safety.
Reuters confirmed the standoff in an October 20 report and said China's Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council did not immediately respond to a request for comment. On October 14, TAO spokesperson Chen Binhua, responding to a water-cannon incident near Dongsha earlier this month, said China holds "indisputable sovereignty" over the Dongsha Islands and surrounding waters, that mainland vessels operating there are lawful and legitimate, and that the Taiwan side "must bear all consequences arising from this."
It was the second entry by China Coast Guard vessels into Dongsha's restricted waters in recent days. The CGA said that on the afternoon of October 16, China Coast Guard vessels 3301 and 3303 were detected southwest of Dongsha and entered restricted waters at 3:34 p.m.; Taiwan's Cijin patrol ship and patrol boat PP-10032 responded and broadcast warnings in Chinese and English. The CGA said it has carried out 12 operations to expel China Coast Guard vessels from waters around Dongsha so far this year, involving 15 vessel encounters in total.
The Dongsha Islands lie in the northern South China Sea, more than 400 kilometers from Taiwan's main island, and are administered by Taiwan, with maritime law enforcement and defense handled by the CGA; mainland China claims sovereignty over the islands and their surrounding waters. On October 1, Taiwan's coast guard used a water cannon against a mainland Chinese fishing boat that had ignored warnings in Dongsha's restricted waters; the boat later lost power and was towed out of the restricted area. (GSM reporting based on the Taiwan Coast Guard Administration press release and Reuters)
Related:
Taiwan Coast Guard Drives Away 16 Chinese Vessels in Coordinated 'Maritime Harassment'
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 东沙岛（资料图），NASA 国际空间站拍摄，公共领域（Wikimedia Commons）
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- 2026-10-20Follow-Up: China Coast Guard Ship 3102 Enters Dongsha Restricted Waters With AIS Off; Taiwan Patrol Ship Taichung Shadows It as Both Sides Trade Radio BroadcastsThis story
