China Coast Guard “Dark Ships” suddenly harass Kinmen; Taiwan Coast Guard Administration instantly expels them
China Coast Guard (CCG) vessels have repeatedly navigated through the busy waters around Kinmen while turning off their Automatic Identification System (AIS), disregarding navigation safety.
At around 14:00 today (10th), Taiwan Coast Guard Administration (TCGA) Kinmen–Matsu–Penghu Branch detected a vessel suspected to be a CCG ship without AIS activated. Despite poor weather and visibility conditions, TCGA quickly used various surveillance and intelligence methods to monitor the vessel’s movements.
Soon after, four CCG vessels appeared in the restricted waters south of Kinmen. TCGA assessed that they might intrude into Taiwan’s waters and immediately dispatched four patrol vessels to monitor along the boundary line.
Between 15:00 and 15:05, CCG ships “14608,” “14527,” “14609,” and “14513” entered Taiwan’s waters from the eastern and western sides of Kinmen in formation while their AIS systems remained off.
TCGA deployed four patrol vessels to intercept them and issued warnings via Chinese and English radio broadcasts, demanding they turn away and not enter Taiwan’s jurisdictional waters. Patrol vessels escorted, monitored, collected evidence, and expelled the ships.
Under close monitoring, the vessels exited the waters at 17:00.
TCGA stated that CCG vessels have harassed Kinmen waters 78 times so far. Recently they have increasingly adopted dark-ship tactics to suddenly intrude into Taiwan’s waters, clearly testing Taiwan’s response capability.
The Kinmen–Matsu–Penghu Branch and the 12th Patrol Area will continue maintaining 24-hour high-intensity surveillance, response, and deployment capability to monitor CCG movements and firmly safeguard national sovereignty and security.