China and Taiwan Ships Face Off in South China Sea

The Chinese and Taiwanese coast guards engaged in a standoff near the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands in the South China Sea, Taipei said Friday.

A Chinese vessel, wit with the hull number 3501, was detected approximately four miles outside the restricted zone Taiwan claims around the Pratas at 7:32 a.m. local time, according to the Taiwan Coast Guard Administration.

Responding Taiwanese patrol boat, Xunhu No. 9, which sailed parallel to the Chinese ship while issuing radio broadcasts ordering it to leave. By 8 a.m., the situation had escalated.

China Coast Guard 3501 ignored the warnings and accelerated from 5 to 9 knots before making a sharp, abrupt turn into the restricted waters, the CGA said. The two ships remained in a standoff at the time of the statement.

“The Republic of China and the People's Republic of China are not subordinate to each other, and only the [Taiwan] Coast Guard Administration has the authority to enforce the law in the waters around the Dongshas,” the agency said, adding it would “take all necessary measures to curb China’s unreasonable actions.”

The People’s Republic of China is the official name of the government in Beijing. The Republic of China is the official name of Taiwan’s government, which fled to the island after losing the Chinese Civil War to Communist forces in 1949.

Newsweek reached out to Taiwan’s coast guard and the Chinese Foreign Ministry via email for comment.

The Pratas, known in Taipei and Beijing as the Dongsha Islands, are situated about 250 miles southwest of Taiwan and 200 miles east of Hong Kong. They are claimed by both sides but administered by Taiwan, which maintains a small marine garrison on the largest island in the group, also known as Pratas.

China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has not ruled out force to achieve unification. Taiwan functions as a de facto sovereign state with its own democratically elected government, military and foreign affairs.

Chinese Patrols Increase

The encounter came just weeks after a state-owned oceanographic vessel operated by Shanghai’s Tongji University, the Tongji Hao, sailed in waters off Taiwan’s southern Eluanbi Peninsula on May 7 and near the eastern port of Hualien on May 15.

After receiving an intercepting radio warning from Taiwan’s coast guard, the research vessel “arrogantly” responded with the broadcast: “There is no Republic of China, only the People’s Republic of China.”

Chinese fishing and research vessels periodically sail near or into the so-called restricted waters, prompting Taiwan’s coast guard to expel them. Chinese coast guard activity there remains lower in intensity than around Taiwan-controlled Kinmen in the Taiwan Strait, but has been increasing-from occasional transits to more than 30 incidents annually, Taipei Times reported, citing the CGA.

The ‘Gray Zone’

Analysts have pointed to the uptick in activity around Pratas, as well as near Kinmen and China’s near-daily military sorties across the median line of the Taiwan Strait, as examples of gray-zone tactics, a form of coercion that remains below the threshold likely to trigger a military response.

The standoff is part of a “recent string of Chinese gray-zone actions against Taiwan” since U.S. President Donald Trump’s May 14-15 talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, defense analyst Bryce Barros of the Institute for National Defense and Security Research observed.

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The status of contested islets, reefs and rocks in the South China Sea

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“Although it’s not clear there is a direct correlation between the summit and these incidents, Beijing might view these incidents as opportunities to continue to salami-slice against Taiwan while testing resolve in Taipei, Washington and allied capitals,” he told Newsweek.

In response to increased Chinese maritime activity around its outlying islands, Taiwan has moved to significantly expand the coast guard’s surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities.

The Ocean Affairs Council-Taiwan’s top maritime security body-has secured more than $935 million in special budget funding to acquire 40 new coast guard patrol vessels and upgrade maritime surveillance systems, Nikkei reported.

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This story was originally published June 5, 2026 at 7:19 AM.