A Taiwan Coast Guard vessel sprayed water cannon on an intruding Chinese fishing vessel to chase it away from Taiwan-controlled waters–a tactic often employed by the Chinese Coast Guard in the South China Sea.
According to reports in local Taiwanese media, the incident took place on May 3 in the waters of the Dongsha Islands. The Taiwan Coast Guard stated that a Chinese vessel named the Yue Shen Shan Yu 11366, which entered the Dongsha Island waters illegally, was apprehended by Taichung and Hsun Hu No. 9 vessels conducting patrol at the time.
The Coast Guard said that Taichung used water cannons to chase the vessel away.
A dramatic video of the incident has since surfaced on the social media site X, invoking memories of several past incidents of the Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) vessels blasting water cannons on fishing vessels of other countries, particularly those from the Philippines with which it remains embroiled in multiple territorial disputes in the South China Sea.
While these incidents are often seen as Chinese bullying of weaker opponents, the latest Taiwanese action has likely given China a taste of its own medicine. China, on its part, has not acknowledged the incident.
WATCH: Taiwan's Coast Guard says it blasted a water cannon at a Chinese fishing vessel that illegally intruded into waters near Dongsha Atoll on May 3rd.
Important to remember that an annual fishing ban goes into effect on May 1st for about 3.5 months. pic.twitter.com/uqppXuTue6
— Jaime Ocon 歐海美 (@JaimeOcon1) May 5, 2025
The Dongsha Islands (also known as Pratas Islands) are located in the South China Sea and are controlled by Taiwan. Chinese fishing in these waters is a massive concern because Taiwan has established its first-ever marine national park here, known as the Dongsha Atoll National Park, and imposed a ban on fishing and angling to preserve marine ecosystems.
Earlier, Taiwan had urged China to keep its fishing vessels from poaching in Dongsha waters, citing the damage it causes to the marine ecosystem. However, the Coast Guard has intercepted seven small vessels and expelled 30 fishing boats from the waters of the Dongsha Islands in about 111 incidents since January this year.
The Taiwan Coast Guard also noted that the incident was recorded after China’s annual fishing moratorium in the South China Sea came into force on May 1. Beijing imposes the ban every year to manage its fisheries sustainably.
The Coast Guard further stated that it has sent ships to be stationed in the region, assisted by multipurpose boats from the Dongsha-Nansha Branch, to maintain 24-hour security, keep a watchful eye on Chinese ship movements, and protect national sovereignty while guaranteeing the sustainable development of Dongsha’s marine resources.
Chinese fishing boats are also regularly spotted trespassing in Taiwan-controlled waters in the Taiwan Strait, particularly in the area surrounding the Kinmen and Matsu islands, close to the Chinese coast. Earlier, in February 2024, two Chinese fishermen reportedly died while being chased by the Taiwanese Coast Guard off the coast of Kinmen, where the fishermen were trespassing. This triggered a spate of hostilities between the two sides.
After the video of the latest incident was posted to social media, several netizens lambasted China’s fishing activities, pointing to previous reports that China hauls in 15.2 million tons of marine life annually, or 20% of the world’s catch.
China’s state-backed fishing fleet, shadowed by its maritime militia, has come to represent unbridled resource exploitation, environmental damage, and geopolitical maneuvering, as previously explained by the EurAsian Times. While it operates under the guise of commercial fishing, it has become a crucial part of Beijing’s larger scheme to establish control over critical marine areas. China operates the world’s largest fishing fleet, and it has come to be known as a maritime militia as it acts at the behest of the Chinese government.
According to the US Department of Defense, China’s armed fishing militia, officially known as the People’s Armed Forces Maritime Militia (PAFMM), is a tool Beijing uses to assert its sovereignty over disputed areas in the East and South China Seas. Each month, these ships intrude into the territorial waters surrounding the islands of Japan, the Philippines, and now, as evident, Taiwan.
That said, the latest incident could spark tensions between the two states, at a time when China is rapidly increasing its military presence near the self-ruled Taiwanese state that it claims as its own sovereign territory.
China’s Military Is Lurking Near Taiwan
As China intensifies military pressure, tensions in the Taiwan Strait continue to rise, with Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence reporting a significant uptick in hostile activity around the self-ruled island. According to Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense (MND), 16 sorties of PLA aircraft and PLA naval vessels were spotted operating around Taiwan until 6 am on May 6.
Last month, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) launched military drills off Taiwan’s north, south, and east coasts while warning the island’s democratic leadership against separatism. China considers Taiwan a renegade Chinese province and does not rule out the use of force to occupy the island. Taiwanese officials have warned that one of these military drills could be used as a pretext to launch an invasion.
In recent times, photos and videos of barges built by China have appeared on social media, sparking speculation that it is preparing for an invasion in full earnest. Several military pundits and analysts globally predict that an invasion could be launched by 2027.
Admiral Samuel Paparo, the commander of US forces in the Indo-Pacific region, recently expressed concern over the rate at which China is diversifying its military exercises, as reported by the Financial Times. “The rates of change on the depth and breadth of their exercises are the one non-linear effect that I’ve seen in the last year that wakes me up at night or keeps me up at night,” he was quoted as saying by the publication.
Paparo also voiced his alarm about China’s rapid military buildup. He said that while the US currently can defeat China in a potential conflict, the edge is rapidly eroding as Beijing rapidly surpasses the US in manufacturing warships and submarines.
The report quoted him as saying that the US had “key advantages over China in undersea capabilities, as well as superior capabilities in space and weapons that counter space assets, but … China was building weapons systems, including warships, at a much faster pace than the US.”
When asked whether China could be deterred from invading Taiwan, Paparo said several factors, such as the degree of military preparedness of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), Beijing’s presumptions regarding Taiwan’s defensive capabilities, and the likelihood of foreign aid to Taiwan, would determine whether China would be dissuaded from launching a military campaign against Taiwan.
For now, Taiwan is modernizing its military with the help of arms supplies from the United States as China continues to launch frequent military drills, practicing a blockade of Taiwan and cutting it off from the rest of the world.
Taiwan is enhancing its defense capabilities through U.S. arms sales, including F-16 jets, Patriot missiles, and HIMARS systems. The 2025 Han Kuang exercises, now unscripted, focus on realistic scenarios like PLA blockades and amphibious assaults. PLA drills, such as Joint Sword-2024A and Strait Thunder-2025A, have practiced blockading Taiwan, simulating port seizures and cutting off sea lanes.
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