A Chinese spy ship has returned to waters off Taiwan, having already been chased away by the coast guard twice this year, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday.
The Hsiang Yang Hung No. 14, a survey ship which belongs to China's State Oceanic Administration, was sighted 9.25km south of Orchid Island, already trespassing within Taiwan's territorial waters, the CGA said.
As of press time the 4,000-tonne ship had not moved. It was anchored and showed no sign of leaving anytime soon, the CGA said.
"It might have come into our territorial waters just to find shelter from the rough seas," a spokesman for the CGA said.
"We judge that the ship will not leave until the rough seas are gone," the spokesman said.
"We will ask it to leave after the weather improves and the sea becomes calmer. For the moment, we will only keep watch on it," the spokesman said.
Because of rough seas, the CGA did not have any ships capable of monitoring the Chinese spy ship for a long period, and asked the navy to send a Lafayette-class frigate to do the job.
Meanwhile, the semi-official Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) made a strong protest to its Chinese counterpart, the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) over the spy ship's entering Taiwan waters.
The SEF asked ARATS to send a message to the Chinese government that it should exercise self-control since such incidents have happened repeatedly.
"Cross-strait relations might be affected as a result," the SEF warned.
The Hsiang Yang Hung No. 14 has been discovered off Taiwan on two previous occasions this year, on April 14 and Oct. 10, also near Orchid Island.
On the first occasion, the ship did not enter Taiwan's territorial waters. But on Oct. 10, Double Tenth National Day, the ship was already within 11km of Orchid Island when it was spotted.
Yesterday, the ship ventured even further into Taiwan's territorial waters, going within 9.25km of Orchid Island.
Out of humanitarian concern, the CGA did not ask the Chinese spy ship to leave immediately, but allowed it to stay until the seas become calm.
"According to international law, foreign ships can ask for passage through our waters. But the laws do not grant foreign ships the right to anchor or stay within our waters," a CGA official said.
The CGA received a report at 9:10am about the discovery of the Chinese spy ship off Orchid Island.
It sent a total of three ships of various tonnages, as well as a helicopter, to track the spy ship. The helicopter was the first to locate the ship at about 2pm.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique