The Philippines and Taiwan are facing a new wave of Chinese gray-zone pressure at sea, from fishing fleets and research ships to coast guard vessels and military aircraft. In the Philippines, Chinese ships have challenged patrols near Kota Island, Batanes, Thitu and Scarborough Shoal, while Taiwan has confronted repeated incursions near Dongsha (Pratas) and other sensitive waters. These encounters raise a bigger question: are China’s research vessels, fishing boats, coast guard ships and military assets operating as separate actors, or as parts of one coordinated strategy to normalize Beijing’s presence and gradually limit what Manila and Taipei can do in their own waters? In this episode, we examine how the Philippines and Taiwan are responding, whether transparency and law enforcement can offset China’s numerical advantage and what deeper maritime coordination between Taipei, Manila and regional partners could realistically look like.
*Recorded on October 6, 2026 at 4:30pm Taiwan Standard Time
Host: Rath Wang
Producer: Miguel Yang
Videographer: Damon Lin
Our guests:
Shen Ming-shih
- Institute for National Defense and Security Research (INDSR) Research Fellow
Sherwin Ona
- De La Salle University Political Science and Development Studies Associate Professor and College of Computer Studies Former Associate Dean
25:59
26:32
26:39
26:00
24:16
25:06
26:47
25:17
23:17
23:56
24:48
24:56
26:46
25:01
24:56
26:09