Yi-Hwa Chen/AFP/Getty Images
Taiwan Coast Guard Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-jin made the remarks at a press conference in Taipei on July 3, 2024.
Taipei, Taiwan
CNN
—
The China Coast Guard seized a Taiwanese fishing boat and its five crew members on Tuesday night off the southeast coast of mainland China, Taiwanese authorities said, the latest escalation of tensions in waters around a group of frontline islands controlled by Taipei.
Taiwan’s coast guard said in a statement that the fishing boat, Da Zhen Man 88, was seized by two Chinese coast guard vessels near Kinmen island, just a few miles from the Chinese city of Xiamen.
China Coast Guard personnel boarded the fishing boat and escorted it to a nearby Chinese port, the statement said, while three Taiwan Coast Guard vessels responded to a call for help but were overwhelmed by the China Coast Guard vessels and retreated to avoid collisions.
A senior Taiwanese maritime official said at a press conference on Wednesday that the Taiwanese vessel was seized during China’s annual summer fishing ban which was implemented in May.
Taiwan Coast Guard deputy director-general Hsieh Ching-chin said the two Taiwanese and three Indonesian crew members were detained while the ship was sailing in Chinese territorial waters 11.2 nautical miles off the mainland’s coast.
Taiwan’s Coast Guard has demanded the immediate release of the vessel and its crew.
“The Coast Guard urges China to refrain from political manipulation to undermine cross-strait relations and immediately release the Da Zhen Man 88 and its crew,” the Taiwanese statement said.
Chinese authorities have yet to comment on the incident.
The Chinese Communist Party claims Taiwan as its own territory despite never having effectively controlled it, and has vowed to unify it by force if necessary.
And Beijing has stepped up pressure on Taipei since its ruling Democratic Progressive Party won a historic third consecutive term in January, a party it openly detests as “dangerous separatists.”
Meanwhile, tensions are rising in the waters around Kinmen, a group of islands controlled by Taiwan but just a stone’s throw from China’s coast.
Since two Chinese fishermen drowned in February after being pursued by Taiwan’s coast guard on suspicion of trespassing, the China Coast Guard has stepped up patrols in the waters around Taiwan-controlled islands such as Kinmen.
In late February, Taiwanese passengers were stunned when Chinese coast guard officers took the unprecedented step of seizing a Taiwanese tourist boat and boarding it for inspection.
Chen Yu-ren, a legislator representing Kinmen from Taiwan’s opposition Kuomintang party, said fishermen from the islands have since been careful not to cross into Chinese waters because of China Coast Guard patrols.
“The two sides of the Taiwan Strait are not currently friendly and need to be more careful to stay within their own territorial waters,” she told CNN on Wednesday.
“The two sides of the Taiwan Strait need to work together more. In the past, it was common for the maritime police to chase away fishing boats that crossed the maritime border, but now they are strictly enforcing the law.”
Taiwan’s Ministry of Agriculture said in a statement on Wednesday that the incident occurred in a “traditional fishing ground” for fishermen on both sides of the strait.
“We expect China to respect our operational rights,” he said.
This story has been updated with additional information.
