China said on Wednesday that its coast guard was “safeguarding order” around the Pratas atoll, the Taiwan-controlled island group at the northern end of the South China Sea, after Taipei reported two approaches by Chinese coast guard vessels since Sunday. The statement marks a fresh escalation in the contest over the remote atoll, which Taipei fears Beijing is trying to bring under its jurisdiction.
Speaking at a regular news briefing in Beijing, a spokesperson for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office said Beijing has “indisputable sovereignty” over the South China Sea islands, including the Pratas and their adjacent waters. “Mainland coast guard vessels conducting law enforcement patrols in the relevant waters are fulfilling their duties in accordance with the law, safeguarding normal navigation and operational order,” spokesperson Zhang Han told reporters.
FAKTA
- What happened: China said on Wednesday, October 21, that its coast guard is “safeguarding order” around the Taiwan-controlled Pratas atoll.
- Trigger: Taiwan reported two incidents since Sunday of Chinese coast guard vessels approaching the Pratas, accusing Beijing of provocative behaviour.
- Background: Beijing said last week that Taiwan must “bear the consequences” of its coast guard using a water cannon against a Chinese fishing boat near the Pratas.
- The atoll: The Pratas, also known as Dongsha, have no permanent civilian population and lie between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong, more than 400 kilometres from Taiwan.
- Taiwan’s 2026 tally: Taiwan’s Coast Guard said it expelled Chinese coast guard vessels from waters around the Pratas on 12 occasions, involving 15 vessel encounters, during 2026.
What Beijing Said
Zhang said the Chinese ships are “effectively protecting the lawful and legitimate rights and interests of people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait and the safety of lives and property.” She blamed what she called the “obstinate insistence” of Taiwan’s ruling party on its separatist stance, describing it as the root cause of the peril of war across the strait.
China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control. Taiwan’s government rejects Beijing’s territorial claims, saying only the Taiwanese people can decide their future.
Pratas Atoll China Coast Guard: Why This Atoll Matters
The Pratas have no permanent civilian population, but security experts see them as vulnerable because of their distance — more than 400 kilometres — from Taiwan. The atoll sits at the top end of the South China Sea, roughly between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong, and its control carries weight far beyond its size.
China’s military already operates around Taiwan on an almost daily basis. Taipei has become increasingly alarmed by Beijing’s use of its coast guard to carry out “law enforcement” patrols, which it sees as an attempt to assert jurisdiction over waters and islands it controls.
What Taipei Says
Addressing a forum in Taipei late on Tuesday, Taiwan’s top China-policy maker said Beijing is attempting to “domesticate” the Taiwan issue to “create an illusion of having de facto jurisdiction over Taiwan’s surrounding waters and offshore islands.” Chiu Chui-cheng, head of the Mainland Affairs Council, added that with President Xi Jinping expected to be confirmed for a fourth term in office next year, China’s mission to “achieve national unification” becomes even more pressing.
“We assess that Beijing’s Taiwan policy will shift toward a more aggressive, provocative strategy of ‘exercising jurisdiction before achieving unification’,” Chiu said.
A Pattern of Approaches
According to Taiwan’s Coast Guard, a Chinese coast guard vessel, numbered 3102, approached the Pratas on Tuesday with its automatic identification system switched off. Taiwanese authorities detected the vessel at around 5 a.m. and dispatched the patrol ship Taichung to intercept it. The Chinese vessel subsequently entered restricted waters at around 8 a.m., prompting repeated warnings from Taiwanese personnel.
The encounter escalated into an exchange of broadcasts: the Chinese vessel declared that the Republic of China, Taiwan’s official name, did not exist, while Taiwanese personnel responded by declaring their country sovereign and independent and demanding that the Chinese vessel leave Taiwanese waters immediately. The encounter was still under way when Taiwan released its statement on Tuesday.
Taiwanese authorities said they had expelled Chinese coast guard vessels from waters surrounding the Pratas on 12 occasions, involving 15 vessel encounters, throughout 2026 — a sign, Taipei argues, that the pressure on the atoll is becoming routine rather than exceptional.
What Happens Next
Neither side has signalled a climbdown. Beijing frames its patrols as lawful protection of order and safety, while Taipei frames them as an effort to normalise jurisdiction over its waters and offshore islands. With both sides now stating their positions publicly in the same week, the Pratas — a tiny atoll with no civilian population — has become one of the sharpest flashpoints in the wider contest over the South China Sea. For more coverage of the region, see Watan News Asia coverage.
