The Chinese Coast Guard detained a Taiwanese fishing boat and its crew off the coast of Kinmen, Taiwanese-controlled islands that are located a few miles off the coast of mainland China.
China has increased patrols around Kinmen, known as Quemoy on the mainland, since February when an incident involving Taiwan’s Coast Guard ended with two Chinese fishermen drowning. Around the same time, it was revealed that US Army Special Forces soldiers had been deployed to Kinmen, a highly provocative step.
In March, Taiwan confirmed the presence of US troops in Kinmen. Some parts of the Kinmen Islands are just 2.5 miles from the mainland city of Xiamen.
Since China has stepped up patrols around Kinmen, there have been several tense stand-offs between the Chinese and Taiwanese coast guards. According to The South China Morning Post, Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration said the Taiwanese fishing boat Da Jin Man 88 was stopped by two Chinese Coast Guard vessels late Tuesday while operating 23.7 nautical miles from Kinmen.
The Chinese vessels made the fishing boat navigate toward the mainland city of Jinjiang in Fujian province. Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration said it tried to block the vessels but gave up after a 50-minute stand-off to avoid escalation.
Taiwan acknowledged the fishing vessel was operating in mainland-controlled waters. “[The Da Jin Man] was located 2.8 nautical miles off the Chinese territorial sea baseline but within Chinese territorial waters,” said Hsieh Ching-chin, deputy director-general of the Taiwan Coast Guard Administration.
For their part, Chinese authorities said the boat violated a moratorium on trawl fishing. “The act was deemed detrimental to fishery resources and marine ecology,” said Chinese Coast Guard spokesman Liu Dejun.
