Taiwan accuses China of seizing fishing vessel near disputed islands

Taipei, July 3 (EFE).- China has allegedly intercepted a Taiwanese fishing vessel near the Taiwan-controlled Kinmen Islands and taken it to a Chinese port.

According to Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration (CGA), the ‘Tachinman 88’ vessel, registered in the Pescadores Islands, was sailing on Tuesday night about 23.7 nautical miles (43 km) northeast of Liaoluo port when two Chinese Coast Guard ships seized it near the archipelago located a few kilometers from China.

In response, Taiwan sent three Coast Guard ships to rescue the vessel and issued radio warnings demanding its “immediate release,” but the Chinese counterpart responded that they should “not intervene” in the process.

Later, the Taiwanese Coast Guard detected four more Chinese Coast Guard ships approaching the spot and ultimately decided to suspend rescue efforts to “avoid escalating the conflict,” a CGA statement said.

The ‘Tachinman 88’ was transferred to the Chinese port of Weitou on Tuesday around 10 p.m. local time, the CGA said, adding that the vessel was boarded about 11.2 nautical miles (20.7 km) from the city of Jinjiang, which is facing a summer fishing ban.

The CGA said it would now coordinate with the Mainland Affairs Council, the body in charge of relations with China, and the Fisheries Agency, using communication channels between the two sides of the strait to ensure the prompt release of the crew and the vessel.

The Kinmen Islands, a major point of conflict between Taipei and Beijing since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, are located just 10 km from the Chinese city of Xiamen and 180 km from Taiwan’s main island.

Tensions around this archipelago, home to about 100,000 Taiwanese, spiked on February 14, when a Chinese speedboat—lacking a certificate, name, or port registration number—intruded into Kinmen waters, resulting in the deaths of two of its four crew members after a pursuit by the Taiwanese Coast Guard.

Following this incident, China announced “patrols” to “protect the lives and property of fishermen,” leading to increasingly frequent activity by its Coast Guard ships in the area. EFE

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