Taipei, June 25 (EFE).- Taiwan denounced this Tuesday the incursion of four Chinese Coast Guard ships into the “territorial waters” of the Kinmen Islands, an archipelago under Taiwanese control that is located a few kilometers from the Chinese coast.
The event occurred around 05:00 on Tuesday (21:00 GMT on Monday), when the branch of the Taiwan Coast Guard (CGA) in Kinmen detected the presence of a flotilla of Chinese vessels in the vicinity of the area, according to a statement released by the organization.
The Chinese Coast Guard ships divided into two groups, each consisting of two vessels, and sailed toward “restricted waters” of Taiwan, which deployed three patrol vessels to carry out surveillance operations, collect evidence and issue warnings, according to to the official text.
The Taiwanese Coast Guard released several videos showing how the island’s coast guards tried to expel their Chinese counterparts from these waters, sailing within a short distance of each other and sending radio warnings.
According to the CGA, this operation, which lasted two hours, had the clear intention of “harassing” Taiwan, a territory governed autonomously since 1949 and considered by China as a “rebellious province.”
“This action does not help maintain ties between the people of Kinmen and Xiamen (city in southeastern China), and does not benefit equal exchange between the two sides of the strait. “The Maritime Affairs Commission – the entity that manages the CGA – urges China to recognize the importance of regional peace and stability,” the statement noted.
During recent months, the Taiwanese Government has denounced the growing activity of the Chinese coast guard in its peripheral archipelagos, especially around the Kinmen Islands, one of the main sources of tension between Taipei and Beijing.
According to CGA figures, between February and May, Chinese Coast Guard vessels invaded the “prohibited and restricted waters” of the Kinmen an average of five times a month, claiming that they had the right to patrol this area.
In this context, the deputy director general of the CGA, Hsieh Ching-chin, assured last week that the new regulation recently implemented by China, which allows its coast guard to board and detain vessels in waters it claims, “will not affect the application of the law” by the Taiwanese Coast Guard. EFE
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