Editorial
The Chinese coast guard boarded a Taiwanese tourist ship the day before yesterday near the island of Kinmen, controlled by Taipei. Taipei's concern is that Beijing could take advantage of an incident that occurred last week to try to establish full control of the waters near the Chinese coast.
The boarding and subsequent inspection of the vessel fuels tensions arising from the shipwreck last Thursday of two Chinese citizens whose speedboat capsized while a Taiwanese coast guard vessel was chasing them out of an area near the military installations in Taiwan.
Taiwan's coast guard defended its pursuit of the Chinese vessel, saying the boat had violated waters near Kinmen, declared under Taipei's jurisdiction.
Over the weekend, Beijing accused Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party of authorizing "forced" inspections of Chinese boats. “Fishermen on both sides of the Taiwan Strait have been operating traditional fishing grounds since ancient times, and there are no prohibited or restricted waters.”“the Chinese government's Taiwan Affairs Office said.
The Chinese coast guard announced late Sunday that it would step up law enforcement with regular patrols in the waters off Xiamen, a Chinese city less than 10 km from Kinmen.
The Taiwan Coast Guard Administration stated, in fact, that six Chinese coast guard officers boarded a tourist ship from Kinmen with 23 passengers and carried out general inspections of the vessel's documents and the planned route.
"We ask the mainland side to stick to peace and reason“the Taiwanese administration said.
Taipei's defense ministry also reported that it had spotted 17 Chinese military aircraft operating in the Taiwan Strait area for three hours starting at 16pm yesterday, of which 00 crossed the median line, a dividing line. imaginary, unofficial one that both sides have respected in the past but which Beijing has frequently ignored in recent years.
The events of the last few hours are a reminder of the fragile security situation around Kinmen, which, along with the Taipei-controlled Matsu Islands, was bombed by China in the 50s. The only direct military conflict between the two sides after the Nationalist government fled to Taiwan in 1949.
The incidents also highlight the risk that China could increase pressure on Taipei after the DPP won presidential elections for a third time with candidate Lai Ching-te.
China, which claims Taiwan as part of its territory, openly disputes the DPP's position that Taiwan is an independent sovereign country. Taiwanese government officials are concerned about China's activity of fragmenting interventions on a periodic basis in order to progressively change the status quo.
For example, they did so by erasing the aforementioned median line, declaring that no international waters exist in the Taiwan Strait. About 150.000 people living in Kinmen and Matsu rely on shipping from Taiwan for most goods and tourism, but they also receive fresh water from China, bartering goods with Chinese fishermen.
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