Pratas Standoff Adds to Gray-Zone Pressure
Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration said China Coast Guard vessel 3102 entered restricted waters west of the Pratas Islands early on Saturday, October 31, with its tracking transponder switched off, Central News Agency reported. The patrol ship Hsun Hu No. 7 broadcast warnings and shadowed it, and the two came within one nautical mile.
The Associated Press reported that Taiwan called it the 13th such intrusion near Pratas this year, involving 16 vessels, and urged Beijing to stop “pointless acts of harassment.” AP noted that Beijing says the waters it patrols fall under its jurisdiction.
Separately, the Yomiuri Shimbun, carried by Asia News Network on November 2, reported that Chinese research ships are suspected of surveying undersea cables near Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines. It said Taiwan is building an AI-based warning system and a watchlist of about 100 suspect vessels.
The surveys remain suspected rather than confirmed, and the reports do not link the two developments.