China urged to release fishing boat carrying 5 crew seized off Taiwan’s Kinmen Islands
Hong Kong Free Press
Taiwan has called on China to release a fishing boat carrying five people that it said was seized by the Chinese coast guard in waters near Taiwanese outlying islands.
The Chinese coast guard has stepped up patrols around Taiwan’s Kinmen islands in recent months after a series of deadly fishing accidents, one of which led to bitter blame-trading between the two sides.
The Kinmen islands are administered by Taipei but are located just five kilometres (three miles) from the Chinese mainland.
Taiwan’s coast guard said it received a report at 08:14 pm (1214 GMT) on Tuesday from the owner of a fishing boat that two Chinese coast guard vessels had intercepted it around 23.7 nautical miles (44 kilometres) from Kinmen’s Liaoluo port.
It dispatched two patrol vessels “to try to rescue” the fishing boat, along with a third for assistance, but one was “blocked by” Chinese coast guard ships, Taiwan’s coast guard said in a statement on Tuesday night.
“We broadcast to the Chinese coast guard ship, demanding the immediate release of our fishing boat. The Chinese side also broadcast to us, asking not to interfere,” it said.
“To avoid escalating the conflict, we have decided to stop the chase,” the coast guard said, adding the fishing boat was taken to China’s Weitou port.
Taiwan coast guard officials told a news conference on Wednesday that there were two Taiwanese and three Indonesians onboard the boat .
Deputy coast guard chief Hsieh Ching-chin said the boat was seized off the coast of China’s Jinjiang city, in an area where Beijing has declared a “fishing moratorium” between May 1 to August 15.
“We hope that the Chinese side will tell us as soon as possible for the reason of the inspection,” he said.
“We will actively request the Chinese side to release the boat and its crew as soon as possible through various channels”.
Another official said there were around 50 to 60 fishing boats in the area and the “Da Jin Man 88” could have been “randomly picked”.
China claims self-ruled democratic Taiwan as part of its territory and has not renounced the use of force to bring the island under control.
It has ramped up pressure on the island in recent years and conducted military drills around the island days after the May 20 inauguration of new Taiwanese leader Lai Ching-te.
In February, the capsizing of a Chinese fishing boat while pursued by Taiwan’s coast guard further strained cross-strait relations, after a survivor reportedly said the boat was “rammed”.
But Taiwan insisted its coast guard was following legitimate procedures after the Chinese vessel entered “prohibited waters” and was zigzagging to evade the Taiwanese patrol.
According to Hsieh, 17 boats were previously inspected by China for violating its “fishing moratorium”, of which 11 were immediately released after paying fines and six “brought back by our side” after on-site negotiation.
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