On Wednesday, China’s government stated that its coast guard patrols were “beyond reproach” around Taiwanese islands located near the Chinese coast, and dispelled complaints regarding the boarding of a Taiwan tourist boat.
Earlier this month China’s coast guard began regularly patrolling around the Kinmen islands, controlled by Taiwan. Last week Taiwan stated that a tourist boat from Kinmen was boarded by China’s coast guard. This brief boarding caused panic among the tourists. This week, five Chinese ships crossed the threshold of controlled waters. Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spoke on the matter at a news briefing. She declared that the office does not acknowledge prohibited waters around the Kinmen islands. Continuing, she maintained that the coast guard did not create panic among the tourists as a result of boarding the boat. This latest instance follows Taiwan’s complaints of “repeated” Chinese military activity close to Taiwanese territory. As on Wednesday, Taiwan’s defense ministry announced the detection of 15 Chinese military aircraft. These aircraft were operating near Taiwan, executing “joint combat readiness patrols”. Furthermore, this month, two Chinese nationals entered prohibited waters and died trying to escape Taiwan’s coast guard. China accused Taiwan of malicious behavior as a result of the two deaths. Taiwan retorted, accusing China of failing to ensure fishing boats do not enter the prohibited waters around the Kinmen islands, and defended the actions it took. Zhu asserted that Taiwan was ultimately to blame for “its dangerous enforcement actions”.
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