Taiwan expelled nearly 4,000 Chinese vessels illegally dredging sand from its waters in 2020, authorities said yesterday, a more than six-fold increase on the year before as Beijing seeks to heap pressure on the democratic island. China has taken an increasingly belligerent tone towards Taiwan under President Xi Jinping -- especially over the last twelve months with Beijing's jets and bombers buzzing the island at a record rate. But the waters surrounding Taiwan have become another hot zone. Taiwan's coastguard yesterday told AFP it recorded a huge spike in Chinese sand dredgers illegally entering its waters.  Up to November last year, it expelled 3,969 vessels, compared to 600 in 2019 and 71 in 2018.