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Sunday, 18 October 2026
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Taiwan coastguard drives away 16 Chinese vessels in coordinated operation

Taiwan says it has confronted and pushed back 16 Chinese vessels, calling the coordinated actions a pattern of maritime harassment and hybrid warfare.

FTMQ News, written by our newsroom0 views

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Picture: Al Jazeera

Taiwanese authorities have confronted and driven away 16 Chinese vessels that were involved in simultaneous maritime harassment operations, Al Jazeera, Hong Kong Free Press, Al Arabiya English, and WION all report. According to a statement from the Taiwanese coastguard released on Sunday, 18 October 2026, the vessels were engaged in coordinated activities designed to alter the status quo. [1][2][3][4][8]

The Taiwanese coastguard described the actions as hybrid warfare, Al Jazeera and WION report. Al Jazeera noted that an unusually large number of Chinese ships took part in the operations around Taiwan's main island and Pratas Island, which is also known as Dongsha. The Chinese fleet included coastguard, research, and four fishing vessels. [1][8]

In separate coverage, Interesting Engineering reported on 17 October 2026 that Taiwan is turning to artificial intelligence technology to accelerate early warning systems for Chinese military activity. [5][6]

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In short

  • Taiwan drove away 16 Chinese vessels involved in maritime harassment.
  • The Taiwanese coastguard described the coordinated actions as hybrid warfare.
  • The operation involved Chinese coastguard, research, and fishing vessels near Taiwan's main island and Pratas Island.

Sources

Every paragraph above points to the numbered items it rests on. Read the originals here.

  1. [1]‘Hybrid warfare’: Taiwan drives away 16 Chinese shipsAl Jazeera, 1h ago (the report this story comes from)
  2. [2]Taiwan says drives away 16 Chinese ships involved in ‘maritime harassment’Hong Kong Free Press HKFP, 5h ago
  3. [3]Taiwan says drives away 16 Chinese ships involved in ‘maritime harassment’Al Arabiya English, 6h ago
  4. [4]Taiwan says drives away 16 Chinese ships involved in ‘maritime harassment’Al Arabiya English, 6h ago
  5. [5]Taiwan turns to AI to speed up early warning of Chinese military activityInteresting Engineering, 21h ago
  6. [6]Taiwan turns to AI to speed up early warning of Chinese military activityInteresting Engineering, 21h ago
  7. [7]Arnaud Bertrand: There is no country called Taiwan. It's a Chinese territoryCGTN, 10h ago
  8. [8]Taiwan accuses China of ‘hybrid warfare’, drives away 16 vessels over ‘maritime harassment’WION, 4h ago

Background

  1. [9]Naval warfare in the Russo-Ukrainian war (2022–present) on Wikipedia
  2. [10]Ching Chiang-class patrol ship on Wikipedia
  3. [11]EU negotiators travel to China for talks on hybrid car exports FTMQ News, 11d ago
  4. [12]Real estate agent charged in alleged Chinese espionage plot in the US FTMQ News, 10d ago

Our newsroom writes these reports with the help of software, from the 12 sources listed and nothing else, and checks them against those sources. Facts can still be wrong or move on; the originals are the record. Spotted a mistake? Write to daniel@monsterkong.com.

Related from FTMQ News

Earlier reports of ours on the same people and subjects.

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