Why doesn't Taiwan respond more forcefully to individual incursions?

Any single incursion, viewed in isolation, is generally not considered severe enough to justify a response that risks broader escalation. Gray-zone strategy specifically relies on that logic, calibrating each individual action to stay below the threshold that would trigger a stronger reaction.

Is this considered a step toward open conflict?

Analysts are divided. Some read the pattern as a deliberate, incremental pressure campaign that could eventually normalize a much larger Chinese presence; others read it as a form of long-running coercion that both sides expect to remain below the threshold of open conflict indefinitely. This brief does not take a position on which reading is correct.

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military · 2026

The Gray-Zone Squeeze

No single incursion is worth a military response. That is exactly the point: a strategy built from many small actions, each calibrated to stay just under the threshold that would trigger one.

Facts verified as of July 2026. This is an ongoing, actively evolving situation.

In late May 2026, Taiwanese and Chinese coast guards entered a tense standoff near the Pratas, or Dongsha, Islands at the top of the South China Sea, after a China Coast Guard vessel sailed into the islands' restricted waters, forcing a response from Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration [VERIFIED].

The incident fit a broader pattern rather than standing alone. Chinese Coast Guard vessels entered Dongsha's restricted waters on six separate occasions during 2026, and a Chinese reconnaissance drone flew over the island in January 2026 [VERIFIED].

Sources

[VERIFIED] Taiwanese and Chinese coast guards entered a standoff near the Pratas Islands in late May 2026 after a China Coast Guard vessel entered restricted waters. CNBC, Taiwan and China coast guards in standoff at top of South China Sea
[VERIFIED] China Coast Guard vessels entered Dongsha's restricted waters on six occasions during 2026, and a reconnaissance drone flew over the island in January 2026. Global Taiwan Institute, China's Next Target in the South China Sea: Taiwan?
[VERIFIED] Chinese and Taiwanese ships faced off in the South China Sea amid an escalating pattern of incursions. Newsweek, China and Taiwan Ships Face Off in South China Sea