‘Hybrid warfare’: Taiwan drives away 16 Chinese ships

China is ramping up its presence around Taiwan, in a pattern that Taipei said is designed to ‘alter the status quo’.

Taiwan's coastguard said it took 'forceful action' to confront Chinese vessels [File: Cheng-chia Huang/AFP]

Taiwan has confronted and driven away 16 Chinese coastguard, research and fishing vessels that it said were involved in simultaneous “maritime harassment” operations.

An “unusually large” number of Chinese vessels took part in coordinated operations around Taiwan’s main island and Pratas (also known as Dongsha), a disputed island to the southwest, the Taiwanese coastguard said in a statement on Sunday.

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The Chinese vessels included four fishing boats, which engaged in “simultaneous operations’ that the coastguard described as “hybrid warfare”.

Taiwan’s coastguard said its vessels took “forceful action immediately to effectively neutralise the threats” and accused Beijing of “attempting to unilaterally alter the status quo” in the Taiwan Strait and give the “false impression of jurisdiction”.

Some of the vessels reportedly entered Taiwan’s restricted waters.

Intensified maritime pressure

Beijing claims Taiwan and Pratas as part of its territory and asserts jurisdiction over the surrounding waters, which Taipei rejects. China has long threatened to use force to regain control of Taiwan.

In an incident on October 1 , Taiwan’s coastguard fired water cannon at a Chinese recreational fishing vessel near Pratas island between Taiwan and mainland China that Beijing claims.

China has intensified its maritime pressure on Taiwan in recent months. Beijing deployed a record 244 coastguard, scientific research and other ships around Taiwan’s main island in July, Taiwanese official data show, compared with just 58 in the same month last year.

In the first 21 days of August, 152 vessels were detected; most were from the Chinese Coastguard, but fishing boats and research vessels were also involved.

China also deploys warships around Taiwan on a near-daily basis, but those are counted separately.

中国正在加强其在台湾周边的存在，台北方面称此举旨在“改变现状”。

台湾海巡署称采取“强力行动”对抗中国船只。[图片：黄正佳/法新社]

台湾方面与16艘中国海警船、科考船和渔船对峙，并驱逐了这些船只，称其参与了同时进行的“海上骚扰”行动。

台湾海巡署周日发表声明称，数量“异常庞大”的中国船只参与了在台湾本岛及西南争议岛屿东沙（又称东沙岛）附近海域的协同行动。

列表 1/3：台湾海巡署在东沙海域与中国渔船发生冲突

台湾总统称增加国防开支旨在“遏制战争”（共3条，此为第2条）

中国因台湾关系制裁巴拉圭和伯利兹部长（名单3/3）。

中国船只包括四艘渔船，它们进行了海警所称的“混合战争”的“同步行动”。

台湾海巡署表示，其船只“立即采取强力行动，有效消除威胁”，并指责北京“企图单方面改变台湾海峡现状”，给人以“管辖权的假象”。

据报道，部分船只进入了台湾的禁航水域。

海上压力加剧

北京声称台湾和东沙群岛是其领土的一部分，并对周边水域拥有管辖权，但台北方面拒绝承认。中国长期以来一直威胁要动用武力收复台湾。

10月1日，台湾海巡署在台湾与中国大陆之间的东沙群岛附近向一艘中国休闲渔船发射水炮，北京方面声称对该岛屿拥有主权。

近几个月来，中国加大了对台湾的海上压力。台湾官方数据显示，7月份北京在台湾本岛附近海域部署了创纪录的244艘海警船、科考船和其他船只，而去年同期仅为58艘。

8 月的前 21 天，共发现 152 艘船只；其中大部分来自中国海警船，但也包括渔船和科考船。

中国也几乎每天都在台湾附近部署军舰，但这些是单独计算的。