The activity of Chinese state vessels near Taiwan has reached a record level for the third consecutive month. Beijing has intensified law enforcement and research operations around the island after Tokyo and Manila announced talks on maritime borders.
The Taiwanese Ministry of Defense reported that in the first 24 days of August, it recorded the presence of Chinese coast guard, research, and other state vessels a total of 118 times. This exceeded the 117 instances recorded in July and 111 in June.
These figures significantly exceed the data for any previous month since July 2024, when Taiwan began publishing information on such incidents. Before June, the highest monthly figure for Chinese state vessels was 50 in April 2025, according to calculations by SCMP.
The record-high intensity of activity coincides with the findings of a report by the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) from August 19. It mentions a “more sustained and assertive presence” of Chinese law enforcement and research vessels in the waters east of Taiwan. AMTI, a program of the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, analyzed commercial data from the Automatic Identification System (AIS).
China increased activity in disputed waters
According to AMTI, from June to August, the activity of Chinese vessels around Taiwan was concentrated in waters where the maritime claims of China, Japan, and the Philippines overlap. From January to the end of May, there was almost no such activity in this area.
According to AMTI, two Chinese coast guard vessels accounted for a significant portion of the recorded activity during this period, while a third patrolled the area from August 4.
For several days after Japan and the Philippines announced the talks, Chinese law enforcement vessels contacted 198 commercial vessels in this area and demanded information about their ports of call and crews, the report said.
Source: South China Morning Post
