Chinese coast guard and research vessels swarmed the seas around Taiwan at a record pace last month, a bad sign for Taiwan's security and for anyone hoping tensions in the Taiwan Strait will cool.

• Taiwan's coast guard counted 244 Chinese ships around the main island in July, the highest ever, close to eight a day.
• Since May, more than 1,200 Chinese vessels have been spotted around Taiwan and its outlying islands.
• Officials describe the situation as steadily getting worse, with July standing out as a sharp jump.
• Analysts think the ships are mapping the seabed to help Chinese submarines operate in the area.
• The pressure is coming from government vessels rather than the navy, which keeps it below the line of open confrontation.

Outlook: Beijing looks set to keep the ships coming, so Taiwan will likely face more of this grey-zone pressure in the months ahead.