The coast guard drove away 567 Chinese boats and seized seven illegally operating in Taiwanese waters in the first six months of this year, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday.
They mostly operated near Kinmen and Penghu counties, resulting in fines totaling NT$1.7 million (US$52,440), it said.
Three ships — two near Kinmen County and one near Penghu County — were detained in January for illegally crossing the border, while one ship each was detained near Kinmen in February and Penghu in March respectively, it said.
Photo: RITCHIE B. TONGO, EPA-EFE
The ship seized near Penghu in January was the Yun Ao (雲澳), detained by the CGA’s 8th Patrolling Fleet on Jan. 12, CGA public data showed. Six sailors were onboard and detained.
Chinese fishers reportedly often enter Taiwanese interdicted or restricted waters piloting non-registered ships.
The ships’ names are often painted over or absent entirely, and they usually refuse to stop for coast guard inspections, a source said.
Meanwhile, the CGA’s Penghu branch yesterday received a distress call from the Penghu-registered Sheng Yuan Fu No. 8 (聖元福8號) and dispatched three ships to protect it.
The vessel said it was fishing in international waters and was driven away by the China Coast Guard.
The China Coast Guard ships were reportedly sighted southwest of Cimei (七美) and Mudouyu (目斗嶼), in an unusual move crossing the 12 nautical mile (22km) law enforcement line and entering the high seas to enforce Chinese law.
The action comes after the China Coast Guard on Tuesday boarded and seized the Taiwanese fishing vessel Da Jin Man No. 88 (大進滿88號).
At the time it was operating in a “common fishing ground” between Taiwan and China, despite it being located within Chinese territorial waters, the Fisheries Agency said.
Taiwanese fishing vessels were not previously prohibited from working there due to a “tacit agreement” between the two sides, the agency said.
Tuesday’s incident marked the fourth of its kind in 21 years, the CGA said.
On July 11, 2003, five Penghu-registered fishing vessels were seized by China Fishery Law Enforcement vessels 103 nautical miles southwest of Penghu’s Cimei Township.
The ships were released after paying a fine, and returned to Penghu on July 13 that year.
On July 24, 2005, six Penghu-registered fishing vessels were seized by China Fishery Law Enforcement vessels 89 nautical miles southwest of Cimei.
The ships were released after paying a fine, and returned to Penghu on July 26 that year.
On July 28, 2007, six Penghu-registered fishing vessels were seized by China Fishery Law Enforcement vessels 44 nautical miles west of Penghu County’s Hua Islet (花嶼).
In all four instances, Taiwanese fishing vessels were seized for contravening China’s closed season for fishing.
In the 2007 incident, the Taiwanese ships were escorted back into Taiwan-controlled waters by CGA vessels following on-site negotiations between the CGA and its Chinese counterpart.
China Fisheries Law Enforcement Command and China Marine Surveillance were China’s maritime law enforcement units, but have since been merged into a unified China Coast Guard in a 2013 reorganization.
Tuesday’s incident was the second this year involving a Taiwan-registered vessel being boarded by the Chinese coast guard.
On Feb. 19, the Sunrise cruise ship was boarded by China Coast Guard personnel in Taiwan-controlled restricted waters off Kinmen.
It was largely seen as retaliation for the fatal capsizing of an unnamed and unregistered speedboat in “restricted waters” off Kinmen, which resulted in the death of two Chinese fishers.
The CGA has seized 467 Chinese fishing vessels illegally operating in Taiwan-controlled fishing sites from 2016 to April, CGA data showed.
Additional reporting by Liu Yu-ching
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS