Taiwan deploys patrol boats to monitor Chinese ships near Dongsha Island

Taipei, Sept. 13 (CNA) Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said Saturday it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a Chinese coast guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat detected near Taiwan-controlled Dongsha Island in the South China Sea.

The Chinese coast guard vessel was spotted 28 nautical miles (52 kilometers) northeast of Dongsha at 6:15 a.m. Thursday, approaching the island's restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA's Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a news release.

A 2,000-ton cutter, the Tainan, was immediately deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39 p.m. on Friday, the coast guard branch said.

Meanwhile, at 6:31 p.m. Friday, a Chinese fishing boat was spotted 11.6 nautical miles east of Dongsha, trespassing in the island's restricted waters, the branch said in another press release on Saturday afternoon.

A few hours later, at 11:09 p.m., two CGA patrol boats seized a small raft belonging to the Chinese fishing boat, 2.5 nautical miles northeast of Dongsha, before expelling the fishing boat, the branch said, adding that no other Chinese ships had been detected in the area as of Saturday.

China's State Council on Tuesday announced the approval of a plan to create a national nature reserve at the Scarborough Shoal, saying it was for the purpose of strengthening marine protection.

The shoal -- called Huangyan Island in China, the Panatag Shoal in the Philippines, and Democracy Reef in Taiwan -- is claimed by all three countries.

The CGA said Saturday that in recent years, Chinese coast guard ships have frequently engaged in provocative and unlawful actions against neighboring countries in the South China Sea and the broader Indo-Pacific, undermining regional security and stability.

China continues its harassment in waters near Taiwan's Dongsha Island, using "gray zone tactics," the CGA said, vowing to keep dispatching vessels to safeguard the area and defend Taiwan's national sovereignty.