A China Coast Guard vessel recently entered Taiwan's waters to conduct a patrol, heightening tensions over the Taiwan Strait. The China Coast Guard said it was a "legal routine patrol" and noted it would "deploy fleets to step up patrols."
On the 27th, according to China's state-run Xinhua News Agency and the anti-China outlet The Epoch Times, on the morning of the 24th (local time) four China Coast Guard ships entered the waters off Jinmen, Taiwan, and a Taiwan Coast Guard patrol boat demanded the Chinese ships immediately turn back and leave the area. Jinmen is a Taiwanese island adjacent to Xiamen in China's Fujian province.
A China Coast Guard Spokesperson said, "The Fujian Coast Guard conducted a routine patrol in waters near Jinmen in accordance with the law," adding, "Since the beginning of this year, the Coast Guard has deployed fleets to waters near Jinmen to strengthen patrols and tighten maritime control in surrounding waters." The Spokesperson added, "These measures have effectively protected the legitimate rights and interests, as well as the lives and property, of Chinese fishers, including fishers in the Taiwan region, while maintaining normal navigation and fishing order in the Xiamen–Jinmen waters."
The Epoch Times said China is intensifying its "gray zone" tactics. Gray zone tactics refer to constant pressure that stops short of armed conflict. The outlet said, "In February 2024, one Chinese speedboat entered the Jinmen waters and capsized while being pursued by the Taiwan Coast Guard, killing two Chinese nationals. Since then, China has used the incident as a pretext to launch organized actions to weaken Taiwan's sovereignty claims over Jinmen and Matsu." It added, "China Coast Guard vessels are frequently intruding into the waters. In September 2025 alone, there were 85 intrusion cases near Jinmen."
It then cited a report by the U.S. nonprofit think tank Center for International Maritime Security (CIMSE), saying, "The United States should take preemptive steps to deter China's maritime gray zone tactics," and, "In the short term, it should deter threats to sea lines of communication, and in the medium to long term, build a coalition framework capable of jointly deterring China's maritime isolation and blockade."