Taiwan Says a Chinese Coast Guard Ship With Its Tracking System Off Entered Dongsha's Restricted Waters at 4 A.M. — the 13th Such Incident This Year

Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration said it located the ship northwest of Dongsha early on Saturday and that a patrol vessel found it entering the restricted waters from the west; the two crews exchanged radio claims, with the Chinese ship saying the area belonged to China, CNA reported.

Awaaz Punjab Investigations Desk31 October 20264 min readRead in all 3 languages

A Chinese coast guard ship entered restricted waters near Dongsha with its Automatic Identification System (AIS) switched off, Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said on Saturday, in what Taipei counts as the 13th incident of its kind this year.

Source: Taiwan News

The CGA said it located the Chinese ship northwest of Dongsha early on Saturday morning, and a patrol ship found the vessel entering the restricted waters from the west at 4 a.m., Taiwan's Central News Agency (CNA) reported, via Taiwan News.

The Taiwanese crew used English and Mandarin to demand that the ship leave the area. The Chinese coast guard responded by claiming the area belonged to China and that it was enforcing the law, CNA reported. At one point, only 1.85 kilometres separated the two ships.

Saturday's intrusion was the 13th incident of its kind this year, involving 16 Chinese ships, the CGA said. The Coast Guard called on Beijing to stop what it describes as a campaign of harassment, while emphasising its determination to take the necessary measures to defend Taiwan's sovereignty.

Dongsha, also known as Pratas, is a disputed coral island in the South China Sea administered by Taiwan as part of Kaohsiung City. Taiwan controls the atoll, while China claims it, and Chinese coast guard vessels have repeatedly entered restricted waters near Dongsha and Kinmen this year.

China's stated position on the patrols was set out earlier this month. Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Chen Binhua said on October 14 that China has "indisputable sovereignty" over the islands and their waters, and spokesperson Zhang Han said on October 21 that the coast guard ships were "fulfilling their duties in accordance with the law." Those statements concerned the October patrols; no Chinese statement on Saturday's specific incident had been reported at the time of writing.

The pattern has been building through October: on October 17, two Chinese coast guard ships numbered 3301 and 3303 entered the restricted waters around Pratas and were flanked by Taiwanese patrol boats broadcasting warnings in Chinese and English, and on October 20 a Chinese coast guard ship entered with its transponder switched off and exchanged sovereignty claims by radio with the Taiwanese cutter Taichung, according to reporting of the CGA's accounts.

What is solid

Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration said it located a Chinese coast guard ship northwest of Dongsha early on Saturday and that a patrol ship found it entering restricted waters from the west at 4 a.m. with its AIS switched off
The two crews exchanged radio messages: Taiwan demanded the ship leave, and the Chinese crew said the area belonged to China and it was enforcing the law, CNA reported; the ships came within 1.85 kilometres
The CGA counts Saturday's entry as the 13th incident of its kind this year, involving 16 Chinese ships

What is only claimed

Sovereignty over Dongsha/Pratas and its waters: Taiwan administers the atoll and calls the entry an intrusion; China says it has indisputable sovereignty and that its coast guard patrols are lawful law enforcement

Sources

Taiwan News, Oct 31 2026, reporting CNA and the Coast Guard Administration statement (Chinese coast guard ship located northwest of Dongsha early Saturday; patrol ship found it entering restricted waters from the west at 4 a.m. with AIS switched off; radio exchange in English and Mandarin; Chinese crew claimed the area belonged to China and said it was enforcing the law; ships came within 1.85 km; CGA counts it as the 13th incident of its kind this year, involving 16 Chinese ships)

China Taiwan Affairs Office statements reported Oct 14 and Oct 21 2026 in Pratas/Dongsha reporting (Chen Binhua: China has indisputable sovereignty over the islands and their waters; Zhang Han: coast guard ships fulfilling their duties in accordance with the law; Oct 17 entry by ships 3301 and 3303 and Oct 20 transponder-off entry per CGA accounts)