On July 11, 2025, the Kaohsiung-Pingtung Branch of the Coast Guard Administration of the Republic of China announced that on the 10th, it detected four Chinese Coast Guard ships from the Communist Party of China (CPC) disturbing the waters around Kinmen by shutting down their Automatic Identification System (AIS). The Coast Guard dispatched four patrol boats to shadow, gather evidence, and drive them away.
According to a press release from the Kaohsiung-Pingtung Branch of the Coast Guard Administration of the Republic of China, the CPC Coast Guard ships disregarded maritime safety by repeatedly navigating busy traffic waters around Kinmen with their AIS turned off.
Around 2 p.m. on the 10th, the Kaohsiung-Pingtung Branch of the Coast Guard Administration detected ships suspected to be from the CPC Coast Guard without their AIS activated. Despite poor weather and visibility, they immediately used various surveillance methods to monitor their movements. Subsequently, four CPC Coast Guard ships appeared successively in the restricted waters south of Kinmen. The Coast Guard assessed that they might be disrupting the waters around Kinmen and promptly deployed four patrol boats to closely monitor them along the boundary of the restricted waters.
The Kaohsiung-Pingtung Branch of the Coast Guard Administration stated that between 3:00 and 3:05 p.m. on the 10th, four CPC Coast Guard ships with AIS turned off, namely 14608, 14527, 14609, and 14513, sailed into the waters of Kinmen from the east and west sides in a coordinated manner using dark sailing tactics. The Coast Guard immediately approached them to intercept, warned through radio broadcasts in Chinese and English, sternly instructed the Coast Guard ships to change course and leave the waters under Kinmen’s jurisdiction, and shadowed, gathered evidence, and drove them away. The CPC Coast Guard ships sailed away around 5 p.m. under close surveillance by the Coast Guard patrol boats.
The Coast Guard stated, “The CPC Coast Guard has intruded into the waters of Kinmen 78 times, constantly using gray zone tactics to harass our country. Recently, they have repeatedly launched surprise attacks using dark sailing tactics to test our response capabilities. The Kaohsiung-Pingtung Branch and the 12th Coast Guard Zone continue to monitor, respond, and deploy with high intensity 24/7, tracking the movements of the CPC Coast Guard ships, upholding a firm law enforcement stance to comprehensively respond, and fully defending national sovereignty and ensuring national security.”