Chinese Coast Guard ship enters Taiwan territory

For the second day in a row, Taiwan has issued a warning to Chinese coast guard vessels entering its waters not to enter the territorial waters, raising tensions in the region.

According to a foreign news agency, Taiwan’s coast guard said that at 4 a.m. on Saturday, Chinese coast guard boats entered the waters of the Taiwanese-controlled Kinmen Islands, at which point Taiwanese authorities ordered them to leave. She was told but still she stayed there for an hour.

Over the island’s strong objections, China says democratic Taiwan is its territory, and in recent years it has stepped up military activity near Taiwan and air defenses are raided on a near-daily basis. .

“You have entered our country’s restricted waters, please immediately,” according to footage released by Taiwan’s coast guard on Saturday, a Taiwanese official radioed to his Chinese counterparts in a broadcast message. Turn around.

In the footage, a Taiwan Coast Guard boat can be seen following the movements of two Chinese vessels at close range.

Taiwan’s Coast Guard said in a statement that this move has affected traffic and safety operations, and we urge them not to engage in such behavior to avoid maritime incidents.

China’s coast guard also began patrolling near the Kinmen Islands on Friday, according to Taiwan’s official Central News Agency, after four Chinese coast guard boats were alerted by their Taiwanese counterparts. .

Last month, China’s coast guard began regular patrols around Kinmen after two Chinese nationals who entered the restricted waters died while trying to evade Taiwanese coast guards.

Taiwan on Thursday dispatched coast guard boats to join a rescue mission at China’s request after a Chinese fishing boat capsized near Kinmen Island, and the Taiwanese government has stepped up cooperation between Taiwan and China amid tensions. The importance is emphasized.

On Friday, Taiwan also sent several boats at China’s request to help search for a Chinese fisherman near the Taiwanese-controlled island of Matsu, near the northern end of the Taiwan Strait.

A senior Taiwanese security official told a foreign news agency on condition of anonymity that China continues to harass Taiwan by sending ambiguous messages on the one hand and on the other to deal with maritime incidents and accidents. Also asking for Taipei’s help.

The official said that these actions of the Chinese Coast Guard in Kinmen have not created any security problems, but these actions have complicated the situation there.

“We don’t understand anything. We tried to save their fishermen yesterday and today they seemed ready to fight us with full force,” the official said.