China has deployed more than 100 ships, including navy and coast guard vessels, to regional waters stretching from the Yellow Sea to the South China Sea and the Western Pacific, the head of Taiwan's National Security Council said on Saturday, according to AFP.
This deployment took place “in the last few days” after the meeting between US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing, Joseph Wu said on X.
“In this part of the world, China is the one and only problem sabotaging the status quo and threatening regional peace and stability,” he wrote on the social network.
In his message on X, Joseph Wu shared a map dated May 23 showing “China's maritime deployment,” with Chinese navy and coast guard ships spread across the Yellow Sea, off the Korean peninsula, into the South China Sea and the western Pacific.
Our ISR/intel shows that the #PRC has deployed over 100 vessels around the #1stIslandChain over the past few days, so soon after that #Beijing summit. In this part of the world, #China is the one & only PROBLEM wrecking the #StatusQuo & threatening regional peace & stability. pic.twitter.com/3MZmTnfRav
— Joseph Wu (@josephwutw) May 23, 2026
A Taiwanese security official told France Presse on condition of anonymity that Chinese ships had been detected before the Beijing summit, but that their number had exceeded 100 in recent days.
China regards Taiwan as one of its provinces, which it has failed to unify with the rest of its territory since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949.
It advocates a peaceful solution, while reserving the possibility of using force, and has stepped up its military pressure on Taiwan in recent years, deploying fighter jets and warships around the island almost daily.
Wu's remarks come after Donald Trump mentioned the “Taiwan issue” on Wednesday when asked by the media if he would talk to Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te, particularly in the context of a possible arms sale by the United States to Taiwan.
“I will talk to (Lai). I talk to everybody,” Donald Trump told reporters who asked him about such a conversation, a red line for Beijing. “We will work (on) the Taiwan issue,” he promised.
