Taipei, Taiwan - Taiwan warned it has detected a sharp rise in the number of Chinese ships entering the waters around the island nation last month, a coastguard official said amid intensifying pressure from Beijing.
Data showed a "significant increase" in the number of Chinese ships conducting "gray zone harassment" in June, an anonymous Taiwan coast guard official said.
A total of 263 Chinese ships, including coastguard, rescue, and research vessels, were detected in the waters around Taiwan and its outer islands in June, compared with 200 a month earlier, and 171 in June 2025. These figures do not include warships.
"Whether in terms of the types or the number of government vessels involved in these gray zone activities, there was a significant increase," the official told reporters.
China launched "law enforcement" patrols in waters east of Taiwan last month, which Taipei has branded as "provocative" and "expansionism in disguise."
During the operation, the China Coast Guard for the first time radioed cargo ships passing Taiwan for information about their crew and destination.
A senior government official said China's aim was not only to disrupt shipping but to "prevent Taiwan from receiving supplies" by stopping commercial ships from entering its ports.
"What it is trying to do is put into practice what it has long talked about – using quarantine-like measures to carry out an anaconda strategy against Taiwan," he said under the condition of anonymity.
Taiwan will hold live drills to practice how to respond to a potential quarantine or blockade, the coastguard official said, without providing details.
China's newer coastguard ships were military-grade double-hulled vessels transferred from the Chinese navy, making them stronger than Taiwan's, he said.
"The only difference is their paint scheme," he said. "This is also why during collision incidents in the South China Sea they are able to recover so quickly."