Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration stated that a mainland Chinese coast guard ship “3501” entered the restricted waters of the Dongsha Islands and faced off with the Taiwanese patrol vessel “Patrol 9”, with both sides engaging in heated verbal exchanges.
This is the second tense standoff in two weeks between a mainland Chinese coast guard ship and Taiwan’s coast guard in the waters around Dongsha.
According to a press release from the Coast Guard Administration, at 7:32am on the 5th, Taiwan’s long-range patrol vessel “Patrol 9” discovered the mainland Chinese coast guard ship “3501” 37.8 nautical miles northeast of Dongsha Island, 3.5 nautical miles outside the restricted waters, and immediately moved to intercept and broadcasted warnings to drive the ship away.
The Taiwan Coast Guard stated that the mainland coast guard ship ignored the navigation safety of the Taiwanese patrol vessel and suddenly accelerated with a sharp turn to intrude into the restricted waters of Dongsha after half an hour.
During this period, “Patrol 9” maintained a strong posture of repulsion, adopting close-in wave-making maneuvers to monitor alongside, and issued multiple warnings in both Chinese and English. The two sides also engaged in intense verbal exchanges at sea.
The Coast Guard Administration emphasized that the “Republic of China” and the People’s Republic of China are not subordinate to each other, and only the Coast Guard Administration has the authority to enforce the law in the Dongsha waters.
Earlier, on May 23, the “3501” vessel also entered related Dongsha waters, and confronted the Taiwan patrol ship for 33 hours.