China claims self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory. (representative)
Taipei, Taiwan:
Taiwan called on Beijing to “be rational” on Tuesday after a fatal incident between a Chinese ship and Taiwan’s coast guard, with the island’s prime minister insisting it would protect its waters.
China claims self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory, and relations between the two countries have deteriorated sharply in recent years.
Last week, a ship capsized near Kinmen, killing two Chinese crew members. Kinmen is an island administered by Taipei, just five kilometers from the mainland city of Xiamen.
The ship was pursued by the Taiwan Coast Guard because it was within prohibited waters.
China announced increased patrols in Taiwanese waters, and Chinese coast guard members briefly boarded a Taiwanese cruise ship on Monday to check the details of the captain and passengers.
Taiwan Prime Minister Chen Chien-jen said on Tuesday that both sides have known about “restricted and prohibited maritime areas” since 1992.
“We will continue to protect these waters to ensure the security of our territorial waters and the rights of fishermen,” he told reporters outside Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan.
“We hope that both sides can be rational, fair and cooperative to ensure the safety of Jinxia waters and allow people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait to interact in a healthy and orderly manner.”
Taiwan’s Defense Minister said that the military will not get involved and will hand over the task of monitoring the waters around Kinmen to the Coast Guard “because we want to avoid a war.”
“If we intervene, the conflict will escalate, which we don’t want to see,” Qiu Guocheng told reporters.
“Let’s handle this peacefully.”
Beijing has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control and has ramped up its “unification” rhetoric in recent years.
China deploys fighter jets and naval vessels around Taiwan almost every day, increasing military pressure on Taiwan.
Last month, Taiwan held a presidential election that was won by Democratic Progressive Party candidate Lai Ching-te, who Beijing considers a “separatist”.
Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that 24 Chinese warplanes were spotted in Taiwan in the 24 hours to 6 a.m., a slight increase compared with recent days.
“tacit agreement”
Relatives of the two crew members who died were expected to arrive in Kinmen on Tuesday, while authorities said the two surviving crew members would be repatriated.
Taiwan’s coast guard has defended its actions during the pursuit that led to the fatal capsizing, saying the Chinese crew refused to cooperate with law enforcement.
It is not uncommon for Chinese and Taiwanese ships to accidentally enter each other’s waters, and Kinmen legislator Chen Youren said mainland coast guard boarded the tourist ship on Monday after it sailed “about a kilometer” into its waters.
“When the relationship between the two sides was relatively peaceful, we would not board each other’s ship… because there was a tacit understanding that the two sides would not take stronger actions,” she told reporters.
But now, with cross-strait relations tense, she is urging Taiwan’s tourist boats and fishermen to stay within its waters.
“This is the safest way.” Chen told reporters.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
