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.
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