China’s Coast Guard has boarded a Taiwanese tourist boat as tensions rise in the waters between mainland China and Taiwan’s Kinmen Island following a capsizing accident that killed two people last week.
Taiwan’s sightseeing ferry, the Jinxia, was captured by two China Coast Guard patrol boats on Monday while touring the main island of Kinmen Island with 11 crew members and 23 passengers on board. According to the Taiwan Coast Guard Agency (CGA), six police officers boarded the Kingsia, asked to inspect the crew’s documents, and disembarked about 30 minutes later. Shortly after, a Taiwanese Coast Guard patrol escorted Xia Wang to the port.
Although Kinmen Island is a territory of Taiwan, it is only a few kilometers from mainland China. Statements from CGA and Taiwanese officials suggested the Xia veered slightly off course, and CGA said it was to avoid shallow water in the area. The paper said Chinese and Taiwanese tourist boats often accidentally enter the other side’s waters, but the CGA said it was an obvious coincidence and would not try to board a Chinese vessel, calling on Chinese authorities to “promote peace.” “We must maintain rationality.”
Kuan Bilin, chairman of Taiwan’s Maritime Affairs Commission, told reporters on Tuesday that the China Coast Guard’s actions had “caused panic” among Taiwanese people.
“Boats like this are not illegal at all,” she said.
The Taiwan Maritime and Port Authority has asked the Taiwanese vessel to refuse future requests to board the vessel for inspection by the China Coast Guard and to immediately report it to the CGA.
Taiwan’s Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng said on Tuesday that the military would not “actively intervene” in the incident to avoid further escalating tensions.
“Let’s handle this issue peacefully,” he told reporters.
One passenger on the tour boat told Taiwan’s United Daily News that the incident was “very scary” and that he was “worried that he would not be able to return to Taiwan.”
The incident comes amid heightened tensions after a Chinese fishing boat being pursued by Taiwan’s coast guard capsized on Wednesday. Two of the four people on board died, and the remaining two were captured by the coast guard.
At the time, the Chinese government condemned the actions of the Taiwan Coast Guard and called for further investigation into the deaths. It also announced that it would strengthen inspection patrols in the area. Taiwan’s government defended the incident, saying the Chinese crew illegally entered Taiwanese waters, “refused to cooperate” with requests to board the ship for inspection, and fled in haste. He said the CGA has the right to “enforce the law.”
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office on Saturday called on Taiwan to release two detained fishermen, rejecting Taiwan’s claims that the vessel was in a “restricted zone.”
Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for the bureau, said both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to China, reflecting Beijing’s insistence that Taiwan is a province and not a sovereign state.
“Fisherman on both sides of the Taiwan Strait have been fishing in traditional fishing grounds in the Xiamen and Ginhai waters since ancient times. There is no such thing as a ‘prohibited or restricted area,'” Zhu said.
The office announced on Monday that the families of the four capsized fishermen would travel to Kinmen with Chinese representatives to provide assistance.
Beijing has long claimed Taiwan and has grown determined to achieve what it calls “unification” under Xi Jinping. Mr. Xi has not ruled out the possibility of using force, but in an effort to avoid war he has instead increased military harassment, economic coercion and encouragement, and cognitive warfare.
Additional research by Chi Hui Lin
