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(ABC – Australia) Chinese officials boarded and seized a Taiwanese fishing boat operating off the Chinese coast close to islands controlled by Taiwan, Taiwan’s Coast Guard said, further escalating tensions.
Taiwan has demanded the release of the vessel and its five crew members, including Taiwanese and Indonesian nationals.
China, which considers democratically governed Taiwan its own territory, has stepped up pressure on Taipei since President Lai Ching-te took office in May. Beijing accuses him of being a “separatist.”
The squid fishing boat was near the Taiwan-administered Kinmen Islands, which border the Chinese cities of Xiamen and Quanzhou, but was boarded and seized by two Chinese Maritime Safety Administration vessels while in Chinese waters late Tuesday, Taiwan’s Coast Guard said.
The Taiwan Coast Guard said that the Taiwanese fishing boat was caught during China’s fishing ban period, and Taiwan will communicate with China and urge it to release the fishermen as soon as possible.
China’s coast guard said in a statement that officers from the southern Fujian coast guard seized the Taiwanese fishing boat because it violated a summer fishing ban and engaged in illegal trawling.
The report also said that the size of the fishing nets used was far smaller than the minimum size stipulated by China, causing damage to marine fishery resources and the environment.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
White House spokeswoman Karina Jean-Pierre told reporters on Wednesday that Washington was monitoring the incident closely.
Taiwan warships withdraw to avoid conflict
Taiwan’s coast guard said it sent patrol ships to assist and issued a radio warning demanding that China release the fishing boat, but Chinese ships responded to the broadcast, saying they should not interfere.
The Taiwanese vessel retreated to avoid conflict and the Taiwanese fishing boat was subsequently taken to a Chinese port, with three of the five fishermen being Indonesian migrant workers, the report said.
Taiwan’s Coast Guard deputy director, Hsieh Ching-chin, told reporters in Taipei that China should explain why it seized the vessel, noting that in previous cases fishermen had been released after paying fines when operating during China’s closed fishing season.
He added that Taiwanese fishing boats needed to be more vigilant and the Coast Guard would step up patrols.
“The coast guard also calls on the mainland side not to use political factors to handle the situation,” Mr Xie said.
Taiwan’s top China policy-making body, the Mainland Affairs Council, said it would contact relevant Chinese authorities to seek an explanation on the matter and “eliminate unnecessary speculation.”
Judha Nugraha, director general of Indonesia’s foreign ministry’s citizen protection department, told Reuters that the Indonesian consulate general in Guangzhou would provide assistance to the detained Indonesians.
It is not uncommon for Taiwan and China to detain each other’s fishing boats that enter illegally.
Reuters
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