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Taiwan's coast guard has accused China of harassment after a Chinese vessel entered restricted waters near the Pratas Islands, a coral island group administered by Taiwan in the South China Sea, and faced off with a Taiwanese ship at a distance of just 1 nau
tical mile. Taiwan called on Beijing "to immediately cease these pointless acts of harassment," saying Saturday's incident was the 13th such intrusion near the Pratas Islands this year, involving 16 vessels.
According to Taiwan's coast guard, the Chinese coast guard vessel entered waters near the Pratas Islands, southwest of Taiwan's main island, early on Saturday. A Taiwanese coast guard vessel confronted the Chinese ship and asked it to leave. At the height of the standoff, the two ships came within just 1 nautical mile (1.9 kilometres) of each other, Taiwan's coast guard said. Beijing says the waters it patrols fall under its jurisdiction. Also on Saturday, China's coast guard announced it had sent a group of vessels to conduct a "routine law enforcement patrol" in waters east of Taiwan.
What "grey-zone" pressure means
The Pratas standoff is the latest example of what Taipei calls grey-zone harassment: activities that stop short of outright combat but are designed to pressure and wear out Taiwan's forces. Taiwan has complained of a stepped-up campaign by China to assert sovereignty and jurisdiction claims over its waters using both coast guard and scientific research ships, according to reports from Japan Today (Associated Press) and Reuters. China's military also operates around Taiwan on an almost daily basis, and Taiwan says China has been harassing merchant shipping with radio messages in waters that are not under Chinese jurisdiction.
Speaking at a sea drone forum in the southern city of Tainan on Monday, Kuan Bi-ling, head of Taiwan's Ocean Affairs Council, which runs the coast guard, said Taiwan must be the master of its own maritime information and conduct its own ocean surveys, because the island's resources, energy and transport of supplies all depend on the ocean. To counter grey-zone risks, she said, the coast guard needs more equipment and more comprehensive intelligence to spot threats earlier and respond more effectively.
Why the Pratas Islands matter
The Pratas Islands are small and remote, but their location in the northern South China Sea makes them strategically significant — and a useful pressure point. Each intrusion forces Taiwan to respond, burning fuel, crew time and political attention, while normalising a Chinese presence in waters Taipei claims. Thirteen intrusions in one year near a single island group is not an accident; it is a pattern, and Taiwan's decision to publicise the count is itself a signal to allies that the pressure is intensifying.
Taiwan's democratically elected government says China has no jurisdiction over any of its waters and that Beijing is in breach of international law by trying to prove otherwise with its patrols. China has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control, but says it would prefer "peaceful reunification." Between those two positions lies the grey zone — and Saturday's 1-nautical-mile standoff shows how narrow the margin for miscalculation is becoming. Related reading: Ukraine Air-Alert App Hacked With False Radiation Warnings and Western Sahara in Limbo as UN Mission Expires.