Taipei (Taiwan), August 19: Taiwan Coast Guard (CGA) officials said on Sunday they were stepping up efforts to prevent Chinese fishing boats from crossing the border, noting that only sporadic violations had been reported so far, the Central News Agency (CNA) reported.
In a press release, the Kinmen-Matsu-Penghu branch of the Taiwan Coast Guard said that as of Sunday noon, cross-border Chinese fishing activities had only been reported from the offshore islands of Matsu and Kinmen.
Taiwan’s CGA said all illegal fishing vessels had been expelled, adding that no violations had occurred despite concerns following China’s three-and-a-half-month fishing moratorium that ended on August 16, according to a CNA report.
In response to possible criminal activity, the CGA said it had deployed one ship, 19 boats, 29 vehicles, 74 motorcycles and 301 staff over the past two days.
Taiwan’s CGA dismissed media reports that Chinese fishing boats used fake automatic tracking systems (AIS) to appear as Taiwanese vessels, the Central News Agency (CNA) reported.
Citing a maritime patrol operation on the afternoon of August 17, the CGA said it had identified about 20 Chinese fishing boats about 20 nautical miles outside the restricted waters around Penghu County, but no Taiwanese vessels or corresponding AIS signals were detected there.
Earlier, on Thursday, July 11, the Taiwan Coast Guard (CGA) shadowed four Chinese Coast Guard vessels as they entered Taiwanese waters off the coast of Kinmen County, the Central News Agency (CNA) reported.
In a statement, the CGA said four Chinese vessels approached the outer limit of the “closed” waters around Kinmen and entered Taiwanese-controlled waters at 7 a.m. (local time) from four different points east and southeast of Liaoluo Bay, south of Zhaishan and south of Fengzui.
According to Taiwan’s CGA, it was the first intrusion by Chinese coast guard vessels in July and the 31st in 2024. Taiwan’s CGA dispatched four vessels to shadow the intruders and issue warnings, the statement said, according to the CNA report.
The Chinese ships left the restricted waters at 9 a.m. (local time) and re-entered at 10 a.m. (local time) after Taiwan’s coast guard dispatched four more ships following Beijing’s action.
Later, Chinese vessels left Taiwan-controlled waters between 12 noon (local time) and 1 p.m. (local time). Taiwan’s CGA said the Chinese coast guard’s actions undermine maritime safety and do not promote exchanges between both sides of the strait. The CGA said it will continue to safeguard Taiwan’s rights in the sea.
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor.
Open in app
