Eleven Chinese naval vessels were detected around Taiwan, the highest daily number this year, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday as a row between Taipei and Beijing over a fatal fishing boat incident drags on.
In the 24 hours leading up to 6am yesterday, China deployed 15 warplanes, 11 naval vessels and one balloon in the waters and skies around Taiwan, the ministry said.
At least 15 more Chinese warplanes had been detected since then, it said.
Photo: CNA
The number of Chinese naval ships was more than the usual four to six in a 24-hour window and the highest so far this year, ministry data showed.
On Dec. 11 last year, Chinese naval vessels were detected around Taiwan in the run-up to the presidential election on Jan. 13, which was won by Vice President William Lai (賴清德), who Beijing has called a “separatist.”
On Monday, a Chinese maritime surveillance ship and four China Coast Guard boats briefly entered prohibited or restricted waters around Kinmen County, Ocean Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said.
Separately, the Chinese government yesterday said that its patrols around the islands of Kinmen were “beyond reproach” and dismissed complaints that the boarding of a Taiwanese tourist boat had caused panic.
Taipei last week said a Taiwanese tourist boat operating from Kinmen had been boarded briefly by China Coast Guard personnel, triggering “panic.”
Moreover, five Chinese ships had entered prohibited or controlled waters at the time, it said.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian (朱鳳蓮) yesterday told a regular news briefing in Beijing that her government does not recognize any off-limit demarcations for Chinese fishers around Kinmen.
Moreover, the China Coast Guard did not cause alarm by boarding the tourist boat, Zhu said.
“I don’t think there is any issue of panic,” she said, adding that the China Coast Guard carries out its official duties in “their own waters” in accordance with the law to maintain “normal order” and protect the lives of fishers and travelers.
Taiwan was to blame for its dangerous enforcement actions, she said.
“The relevant parties in Taiwan should respect the fact that both sides of the Taiwan Strait have been operating in traditional waters for a long time, and stop seizing and detaining mainland fishing boats in a rough and dangerous manner,” she said, apparently referring to the death of two men after a maritime incident near Kinmen last week.
A Chinese speedboat carrying four people capsized on Feb. 14 near Kinmen County while being pursued by a Coast Guard Administration vessel, throwing them into the water.
Two crew from the speedboat died and the other two were pulled from the water and detained before being deported back to China.
One of those deported reportedly said that the boat was “rammed.”
Taiwan said its coast guard was following legitimate procedures.
Beijing has accused Taiwanese authorities of “seeking to evade their responsibilities and hiding the truth” about the Feb. 14 incident.
Foreign tourists who purchase a seven-day Taiwan Pass are to get a second one free of charge as part of a government bid to boost tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. A pair of Taiwan Passes is priced at NT$5,000 (US$156.44), an agency staff member said, adding that the passes can be used separately. The pass can be used in many of Taiwan’s major cities and to travel to several tourist resorts. It expires seven days after it is first used. The pass is a three-in-one package covering the high-speed rail system, mass rapid transport (MRT) services and the Taiwan Tourist Shuttle services,
Drinking a lot of water or milk would not help a person who has ingested terbufos, a toxic chemical that has been identified as the likely cause of three deaths, a health expert said yesterday. An 83-year-old woman surnamed Tseng (曾) and two others died this week after eating millet dumplings with snails that Tseng had made. Tseng died on Tuesday and others ate the leftovers when they went to her home to mourn her death that evening. Twelve people became ill after eating the dumplings following Tseng’s death. Their symptoms included vomiting and convulsions. Six were hospitalized, with two of them
DIVA-READY: The city’s deadline for the repairs is one day before pop star Jody Chiang is to perform at the Taipei Dome for the city’s Double Ten National Day celebrations The Taipei City Government has asked Farglory Group (遠雄集團) to repair serious water leaks in the Taipei Dome before Friday next week, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said yesterday, following complaints that many areas at the stadium were leaking during two baseball games over the weekend. The dome on Saturday and Sunday hosted two games in tribute to CTBC Brothers’ star Chou Szu-chi (周思齊) ahead of his retirement from the CPBL. The games each attracted about 40,000 people, filling the stadium to capacity. However, amid heavy rain, many people reported water leaking on some seats, at the entrance and exit areas, and the
BIG collection: The herbarium holds more than 560,000 specimens, from the Japanese colonial period to the present, including the Wulai azalea, which is now extinct in the wild The largest collection of plant specimens in Taiwan, the Taipei Botanical Garden’s herbarium, is celebrating its 100th anniversary with an exhibition that opened on Friday. The herbarium provides critical historical documents for botanists and is the first of its kind in Taiwan, Taiwan Forestry Research Institute director Tseng Yen-hsueh (曾彥學) said. It is housed in a two-story red brick building, which opened during 1924. At the time, it stored 30,000 plant specimens from almost 6,000 species, including Taiwanese plant samples collected by Tomitaro Makino, the “father of Japanese botany,” Tseng said. The herbarium collection has grown in the century since its