Takeaways Up Front
1. Taiwan’s coast guard hosed the Chinese fishing boat Jin Sha near Dongsha on Oct. 1.
2. A second Chinese boat left when ordered, and the Jin Sha was later towed out.
3. Beijing warned that Taiwan would bear responsibility for any serious consequences.
Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration (CGA) turned a water cannon on a Chinese fishing boat Thursday, Oct. 1, after its crew refused orders to leave restricted waters off the Taipei-controlled Dongsha Islands in the South China Sea. A second Chinese boat left when told to.
Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office responded that Taiwan “must not use dangerous methods to roughly treat” mainland crews and that “if serious consequences result, all responsibility will be borne by the Taiwan side.”
The 4,000-ton cutter Yunlin found the two boats anchored about 27 nautical miles east of the island, roughly 8 nautical miles inside the restricted zone. When the Jin Sha ignored three radio warnings, the Yunlin sprayed water into the air for 30 seconds, then aimed at the boat’s wheelhouse.
🇹🇼🇨🇳 Taiwan hit a Chinese fishing boat with a water cannon after it refused repeated orders to leave restricted waters near Dongsha Island.
Then things took a surprising turn:
• 3 radio warnings were ignored.
• Taiwan’s Coast Guard used water cannon to force the boat to move.… pic.twitter.com/WeqKpGGxIA
— News Forge (@NewsXForge) October 2, 2026
Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration (CGA) used a water cannon to drive off the Chinese fishing boat “Jin Sha” after it refused repeated orders to leave restricted waters near Taiwan-held Dongsha Island on Thursday. pic.twitter.com/mJZpZHWffv
— Focus Taiwan (CNA English News) (@Focus_Taiwan) October 2, 2026
The Jin Sha lost power soon after. The Yunlin sent over 35 hot meals the crew asked for and towed the boat out of restricted waters that night, handing it to a Chinese vessel early Oct. 2.
The atoll around Dongsha is a national park where fishing is banned, and the CGA says Chinese boats crossing into it have stepped up their fishing, “with catches often running to several tons.”
Since February 2025, the coast guard has detained Chinese skiffs found there rather than only chasing them off, and it has seized nine this year. In May, a China Coast Guard ship faced off with a Taiwanese patrol ship near the island.
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