Taiwan detected a sharp increase in the number of Chinese vessels entering waters around the island democracy last month, a Taiwanese coast guard official said, as Beijing intensifies pressure on Taipei.
China deploys military aircraft, warships and coast guard vessels around Taiwan almost daily to assert its claim of sovereignty over the island – which Taipei rejects.
The data shows a “significant increase” in the number of Chinese vessels conducting “gray zone harassment” in June, a Taiwan coast guard official said on condition of anonymity to share the information with the media. The remarks were embargoed until Monday.
A total of 263 Chinese vessels, including coast guard, rescue and search vessels, were detected in waters around Taiwan and its outer islands in June, compared with 200 a month earlier and 171 in June 2025.
Figures do not include warships.
“Whether in terms of the types or the number of government vessels involved in these gray area activities, there has been a significant increase,” the official told reporters.
China launched “law enforcement” patrols in waters east of Taiwan last month, which Taipei has called “provocative” and “disguised expansionism”.
Until June, China’s Coast Guard presence in the Western Pacific was largely limited to participating in military exercises around Taiwan.
During the operation, China’s Coast Guard for the first time radioed cargo ships passing Taiwan for information about their crew and destination.
A senior government official said China’s aim was not just to impede shipping, but to “prevent Taiwan from receiving supplies” by barring merchant ships from entering its ports.
“What he is trying to do is put into practice what he has been talking about for a long time – using quarantine-like measures to carry out an anaconda strategy against Taiwan,” he said on condition of anonymity.
Taiwan will hold live drills to practice how to respond to a possible quarantine or blockade, the coast guard official said, without elaborating.
China’s newest coast guard ships were military-grade twin-cockpit vessels transferred from the Chinese navy, making them stronger than Taiwan’s, he said.
“The only difference is their paint scheme,” he said.
“This is also why during collision incidents in the South China Sea they are able to recover so quickly.”
China’s coast guard vessels also operated in pairs, placing a “significant burden” on Taiwan’s coast guard fleet to monitor them.
“The area they cover is extremely wide,” the coast guard official said.
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te, who has been an outspoken defender of Taiwan’s sovereignty, called on his party on Sunday to oppose China’s “red terror” and defend the island’s “democratic and free way of life”.
