'Turn around immediately': Taiwan warns off Chinese coast guard boats
again as tensions simmer
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[March 16, 2024]
By Yimou Lee and Fabian Hamacher
TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan on Saturday warned off Chinese coast guard
ships that entered its restricted waters near frontline islands close to
China for a second day in a row, as tensions simmer across the sensitive
Taiwan Strait.
Taiwan's coast guard said four Chinese coast guard boats on Saturday
morning entered the restricted waters of Taiwan-controlled Kinmen
islands, which hug the Chinese coast. It said the Chinese boats stayed
just over an hour after Taiwan authorities asked them to leave.
China claims democratically-governed Taiwan as its own territory, over
the island's strong objections. It has stepped up military activities
near Taiwan in recent years, with almost daily incursions into air
defense identification zones.
"You have entered our country's restricted waters. Please turn around
immediately," a Taiwan official said via radio in a broadcast message to
their Chinese counterparts, according to footage released on Saturday by
Taiwan's coast guard.
The footage shows a Taiwan coast guard boat tracking the movement of two
Chinese ships in the near distance.
"The move has seriously impacted traffic and safety. To avoid triggering
naval incidents we urge them to stop such behaviors," Taiwan's coast
guard said in a statement.
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There was no immediate comment from China's coast guard, which does not
have publicly available contact details.
China's coast guard conducted patrols near the Kinmen Islands on Friday
as well, with four Chinese coast guard boats being warned away by their
Taiwanese counterparts, according to Taiwan's official Central News
Agency.
Last month, China's coast guard began regular patrols around Kinmen,
after two Chinese nationals died while trying to flee Taiwan's coast
guard after their boat entered prohibited waters.
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![](../images/031624PIX/news_w43.jpg)
Anti-landing barricades are pictured on the beach, with China's
Xiamen city in the background, in Kinmen, Taiwan February 21, 2024.
REUTERS/Ann Wang/File Photo
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Taiwan dispatched coast guard boats on Thursday to join a rescue
mission at China's request after a Chinese fishing vessel capsized
near the Kinmen islands. Taiwan's government has stressed the
importance of co-operation between Taiwan and China amid the
heightened tensions.
On Friday, Taiwan also sent several boats at China's request to help
search for a Chinese fisherman who went overboard near the
Taiwan-controlled Matsu islands, in the northern end of the Taiwan
Strait.
A senior Taiwan security official, who requested anonymity due to
the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters that Beijing is sending
out "confusing" messages by continuing its harassment of Taiwan,
while also asking for Taipei's assistance on dealing with maritime
incidents.
The official said the latest moves by the Chinese coast guard in
Kinmen "did not carry substantial security threats" but complicated
the situation there.
"We are clueless," the official said. "We tried to save their
fishermen yesterday and today they are baring their teeth and
claws."
Last week, Taiwan's top China policy-making body urged its giant
neighbour not to change the "status quo" in waters near Kinmen by
sending coast guard boats into restricted areas.
(Reporting by Yimou Lee and Fabian Hamacher; Editing by Tom Hogue)
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