Chinese officials boarded and seized a Taiwanese fishing boat operating near China’s coast close to a Taiwan-controlled island late Tuesday and took it to a Chinese port, Taiwan’s coast guard reported, in a further escalation of tensions.
China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and has increased pressure on Taipei since President Lai Ching-te took office in May, a man Beijing accuses of being a “separatist”.
The squid fishing vessel was near the Taiwan-administered Kinmen islands, which are adjacent to the Chinese cities of Xiamen and Quanzhou, but in Chinese waters on Tuesday night when it was boarded and seized by two Chinese maritime administration boats, Taiwan’s coast guard said.
The Taiwanese vessel was operating during China’s no-fishing period, the coast guard noted, adding that Taiwan will communicate with China and urge them to release the fishermen as soon as possible.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Taiwan sent its own coast guard ships to assist and broadcast warnings asking China to release the fishing vessel, but China’s ships broadcast back saying not to interfere, Taiwan’s coast guard reported. Taiwan’s ships then backed off to avoid a conflict, and the Taiwanese fishing vessel was subsequently taken to a Chinese port. Three of the five fishermen were Indonesian migrant workers, it added.
Taiwan Coast Guard Administration Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-chin told reporters in Taipei that China should explain why it had seized the vessel and pointed out that in previous cases, fishermen had been released after paying fines for operating during China’s no-fishing season. Taiwanese fishing vessels need to raise their alert level, and the coast guard will also strengthen its patrols, he added.
“The coast guard also calls on the mainland side not to use political factors to handle this situation,” Hsieh said. Taiwan’s top China policy-making body, the Mainland Affairs Council, said it will contact Chinese authorities to seek an explanation of what had happened and “dispel unnecessary speculation”. Judha Nugraha, director for citizen protection at Indonesia’s foreign ministry, told Reuters the country’s consulate general in Guangzhou will assist the detained Indonesians.
This is not the first time a Taiwanese fishing vessel has been taken by Chinese authorities after operating in that country’s waters, an official said, speaking on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the situation.
A Taiwanese official, familiar with the island’s security planning, told Reuters they have issued alerts to fishing and transport authorities around Taiwan to be aware of “possible risks” amid frequent Chinese coast guard activities in the region, including near Japan and the Philippines. It is not uncommon for Taiwan and China to detain each other’s trespassing fishing vessels.
So far this year, Taiwan has detained five such vessels from China, Taiwan coast guard data shows. Chinese maritime enforcement and coast guard ships have been regularly operating around Kinmen since February after two Chinese fishermen died trying to flee Taiwan’s coast guard.
NNEOMA UDENSI
Follow us on:
