TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan said Wednesday it has ordered its coast guard not to intervene in the seizing of Taiwanese fishing boats amid what it sees as growing Chinese attempts to encroach on the island’s territory.
Taiwan’s coast guard also repeated its call for the release of a fishing boat and its crew that were kidnapped on Tuesday night off the Taiwan-controlled island of Kinmen off the Chinese coast, a demand complicated by China’s refusal to communicate with the Taiwanese government.
Taiwan coast guard spokesman Hsieh Ching-chin said the vessel was not in Chinese territorial waters when it was boarded by Chinese operatives and lured to a port in China’s Fujian province.
The Coast Guard’s initial statement said the Dajin Manchu 88 had been seized by two Chinese vessels and Taiwan had sent three vessels to rescue it, but one of them, which approached the fishing boat, was blocked by three Chinese vessels and instructed not to interfere. The pursuit was called off to avoid an escalation of the conflict after Taiwan’s maritime authorities detected four more Chinese vessels approaching, the statement added.
Taiwan’s state-run Central News Agency said the vessel was carrying the captain and five other crew members, both Taiwanese and Indonesian.
Taiwanese authorities said the ship was just over 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Jinjiang on the Chinese mainland when it was hijacked.
China claims self-governing Taiwan as its territory and says it should be under its control.
Taiwanese and Chinese fishermen regularly sail through the waters near Kinmen, and tensions have risen as the number of Chinese vessels increases.
In February, two Chinese fisherman drowned It has been pursued by Taiwan’s maritime police off the coast of Kinmen, prompting Beijing to step up patrols.
