Taiwan says it has strengthened Coast Guard patrols around the remote Pratas Islands, regularly sending larger vessels and stationing a newly built 100-tonne-class patrol boat there after a wharf was completed in July. The move responds to increased Chinese activity, Taipei said.
China’s coast guard ships have increased patrols near Pratas, with the latest reported earlier this month. Taiwan’s Coast Guard said it has confiscated nine Chinese fishing boats around the islands since the start of the year and repurposed them for reef patrol and marine conservation.
The Taiwan-controlled islands lie more than 400 km (250 miles) from Taiwan. Security experts cited in the report consider them vulnerable to Chinese attack because of their distance; they have an airstrip but no permanent civilian population, and Taiwan’s Coast Guard—not the military—handles their security.
