Taiwan reinforces patrolling on disputed island Silvers against pressure

In a statement released on Wednesday night, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) of Taiwan reported that it strengthened the means of surveillance in the waters of Silvers “in full”.

This is after the completion, on July 1, of the quay renovation works, where larger vessels already operate on the main island, controlled by Taipei, but located about 340 kilometres southeast of Hong Kong.

“ The large patrol vessels are often mobilized for the waters of Pratas; along with the multipurpose coastal patrol boats already positioned on site, they demonstrate a solid capacity for deterrence at various levels and a great mobility in law enforcement ", indicated the maritime authority.

According to the CGA, since February 2025 the coast guard has not limited itself to expel small Chinese vessels entering Taiwanese waters to fish illegally, but began to retain and confiscate them, to “increase the cost of illegality” and deter offenders.

This year nine vessels were seized in eight operations, while those confiscated in 2025 are now being used to patrol the shallow reefs of the island and marine conservation tasks.

The CGA pointed out that atoll is Taiwan’s first national marine park and has an “extremely valuable” ecosystem, which is why “no intrusion or illegal damage will be tolerated”.

Silvers is one of two territories that Taipei controls in the South China Sea, along with Taiping Island (Itu Aba), in the Spratly archipelago.

Beijing claims almost all of these waters, which circulates about one third of world maritime traffic.

The CGA denounced a growing presence of the Chinese Coast Guard in the vicinity of Pratas, with more than a dozen incursions reported this year.

In June, the coastal guards of China and Taiwan were involved in a maritime incident near the Silver Atoll.

In a statement, the CGA indicated that one of its vessels spotted the Chinese vessel 3501, the Chinese coast guard, northeast of the atoll, approaching immediately to sail in parallel.

According to the CGA, the Chinese vessel deliberately accelerated from five to nine knots and carried out a sudden maneuver to enter waters classified by Taiwan as restricted, without taking into account the safety of the Taiwanese patrol ship.

The episode occurred less than two weeks after a similar incident involving the same Chinese ship between May 23 and 24.

In January, the Chinese Army performed exercises with unmanned aerial vehicles (“drones”) in the airspace over Silvers, an action that the Taiwanese Government classified as “highly provocative” and “irresponsible”.