The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) today called on China to return the crew and explain the seizure of a Taiwanese fishing boat sailing in Chinese-controlled waters last night.
The Penghu-registered vessel was catching squid off Kinmen County when it was boarded by the China Coast Guard, CGA Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽) told a news conference.
The Da Jin Man No. 88 (大進滿88) was fishing 23.7 nautical miles (43.9km) east-northeast of Liaoluo Bay (料羅灣) and 17.5 nautical miles from Taiwan’s restricted waters off Kinmen, he said.
Photo courtesy of the Coast Guard Administration
After receiving a notice at 8:14pm, the CGA said it sent three ships to rescue the vessel, Hsieh said.
One of the ships was intercepted by the Chinese Coast Guard vessels at 9:14pm, as the CGA called for the release of the Da Jin Man No. 88, he added.
However, it called off the mission to “avoid escalating tensions” after it detected the approach of four other China Coast Guard ships, he said.
It is currently the closed season for fishing in China.
There were two Taiwanese and three Indonesian nationals on the boat, Hsieh said, calling on China to release the crew according to set procedures, explain its reasoning and refrain from using political means to handle the situation.
As the incident occurred in Chinese-controlled waters, it was outside of the area regularly monitored by the CGA, Hsieh said, adding that fishing associations would be advised to avoid operating in Chinese waters during the fishing moratorium period.
The China Coast Guard also harassed Japanese fishing vessels near the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台) yesterday, Hsieh said, reminding Taiwanese sailors to remain vigilant and vowing to increase patrols.
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