TAIWAN-DEFENCE-NAVY
After Taiwan's Coast Guard used water cannons on a Chinese fishing vessel near the Dongsha Islands, China warned Taiwan to bear the consequences, drawing renewed attention to the dispute between the two sides over maritime law enforcement and sovereignty over related waters.

The Chinese government said Wednesday that Taiwan must bear the consequences after a Taiwan Coast Guard vessel used a water cannon against a Chinese fishing boat, further escalating tensions between the two sides in waters around the South China Sea. Taiwan said its Coast Guard personnel were carrying out routine maritime law enforcement and stressed that the response was measured and proportionate.

According to Reuters, the incident occurred in waters near the Taiwan-controlled Dongsha Islands. Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration said a Chinese fishing boat failed to leave restricted waters after being warned, prompting the Coast Guard vessel to use a water cannon. The fishing boat subsequently suffered an engine failure and was towed away by another Chinese vessel in the area.

Chen Binhua, a spokesperson for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, said China has sovereignty over the Dongsha Islands and surrounding waters, and criticized Taiwan’s handling of Chinese vessels as dangerous. China said it would protect the safety of the personnel and property involved but did not specify what it meant by “consequences.”

Taiwan said the Coast Guard’s actions constituted routine law enforcement. Taiwan officials told Reuters that the measures taken by Coast Guard personnel were cautious and proportionate, and were not intended to deliberately heighten tensions between the two sides.

The Dongsha Islands are located in the South China Sea south of Taiwan and east of Hong Kong, more than 400 kilometers from Taiwan’s main island. Because of their relatively remote location, maritime security and law enforcement activities in the area have long drawn the attention of regional security observers.

The incident came as Taiwan continues to monitor China’s gray-zone activities. Taiwan National Security Council officials have said China is using an increasingly diverse range of vessels, including maritime militia and research ships. Such activities, which remain below the threshold of full-scale military conflict, could pose risks to transportation and critical infrastructure.

Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense also reported Wednesday that China had conducted a joint combat-readiness patrol around Taiwan, involving 13 military aircraft, including J-16 fighters, along with an unspecified number of naval vessels. The two sides hold fundamentally different sovereignty claims over the waters around Dongsha, and maritime activity in the area and subsequent responses from both sides could continue to affect regional security.