Members of the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said they did not see the Chinese flag during a controversial visit to the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台) on Wednesday by members of the Chunghua Baodiao Alliance.
The alliance’s executive director, Huang Hsi-lin (黃錫麟), and others on Wednesday set sail for the Diaoyutai Islands in an effort to draw attention to Taiwan’s claim of sovereignty over the archipelago, but allegedly brought along the national flag of China.
Asked by the Chinese--language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) why he had not also taken the national flag of the Republic of China (ROC), Huang said that he had told members of the alliance to bring one, but they had forgotten.
The dispute over the Diaoyutai Islands, which are claimed by Taiwan, China and Japan, stems from post-World War II politics.
CGA officials said they did not find any contraband or China’s national flag aboard the boat Huang and the others took out to sea, adding that it was not until Japanese coast guard ships appeared that they had sent personnel to board Huang’s boat.
The CGA also said on Wednesday that it is the administration’s policy to protect the safety of Taiwanese citizens, and that it did not coordinate with China over the Diaoyutais issue.
No personnel saw the Chinese flag during the visit, the administration said.
However, even if the flag had been found on the person of a passenger, the administration would not have been able to confiscate it, as the Chinese flag is not listed as contraband.
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