Coast Guard Administration patrols around Kinmen County would not be adjusted at this point, despite a series of incidents this month, national security officials said in a news briefing, adding that Taiwan would not make any moves to further escalate political tensions with China.
Cross-strait tensions heightened after two Chinese fishermen who allegedly entered restricted waters near Kinmen died after their boat capsized on Feb. 14 during a pursuit by a coast guard vessel.
China on Feb. 18 said it would begin regular patrols in waters between Kinmen County and China’s Xiamen, and China Coast Guard personnel boarded a Taiwanese tourist boat the next day to inspect the identifications of tourists.
Photo: CNA
On Monday, five ships deployed by the China Coast Guard briefly entered prohibited or restricted waters near Kinmen before being warned away.
Taipei is managing the deaths of Chinese fishermen and the fallout from the incident as part of the Coast Guard Administration’s crackdown on unnamed, unlicensed or unregistered fishing boats in Taiwan’s waters, officials said.
Details of the incident would be investigated by judicial departments and the government would not make any moves to escalate cross-strait tensions — as China is attempting to do, they said.
China is expected to use the incident to intensify its “gray zone” tactics in the short term, but the Coast Guard Administration is not planning to adjust its patrol schedules near Kinmen, they said, adding that transparency is the key to deter “gray zone” operations.
Beijing’s chief ploy in the region is to create a “prosperity circle” encompassing Kinmen and Xiamen, the officials said.
Nevertheless, China is using the deaths to manipulate public opinions in China and to engage in cognitive warfare against Taiwan, they said.
China Central Television on Tuesday last week reported the deaths with a headline demanding that Taiwan provide a clear explanation.
Another official said in the security briefing that the fishing boat turned right at high speed and fled to avoid being inspected by Coast Guard Administration personnel, causing its stern on the left side to make contact with the right rear of the coast guard vessel.
Whether the collision caused the fishing boat to capsize requires further investigation, the official said.
“We are charged with enforcing the law over the sea,” the official said. “We should not apologize, nor are we prepared to do so, because if we do, no coast guard vessel would pursue boats that illegally cross into our waters.”
Separately, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Eastern Theater Command on Friday last week released an animation depicting a small hand with a Taiwan-shaped bracelet on its wrist grasping a finger on a larger hand with the Chinese flag on its wrist.
The animation, titled “Return home,” later shows Chinese fighter jets and warships encircling Taiwan.
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