The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) and the China Coast Guard yesterday engaged in a standoff in waters near the strategically important Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島), the second such confrontation in two weeks.
The disputed Pratas Islands, more than 400km from Taiwan proper in the South China Sea, are seen by security experts as vulnerable to being attacked or cut off by Chinese forces.
The CGA’s Hsun Hu No. 9 (巡護九號) patrol vessel spotted China Coast Guard patrol vessel 3501, the CGA said yesterday morning.
Photo courtesy of the CGA
The Chinese ship made a wide turn and deliberately accelerated to “force its way” into restricted waters off the islands, the CGA said.
The incident follows an operation on May 7, when the CGA expelled the Tong Ji (同濟號), a Chinese research ship suspected of illegal survey operations, just outside Taiwanese waters 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan proper.
The Tong Ji was intercepted again outside Taiwan’s waters on May 15 off Hualien County, the CGA said.
The Chinese vessel yesterday engaged in “intense verbal exchanges” over the airwaves and the Hsun Hu No. 9 repeatedly created wake waves to cross the path of the Chinese boat to expel it from the area, the CGA said.
The standoff was still continuing as of press time last night.
“The China Coast Guard’s harassment of restricted Pratas is aimed at creating an illusion that China has jurisdiction over the waters around the Pratas Islands,” the CGA said. “Its activities undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and make China the region’s troublemaker.”
Taiwan and China are not subordinate to each other, and the CGA is the only party with the legal authority of maritime law enforcement in the seas surrounding the Pratas Islands, it said.
Taiwan “strongly condemns” China’s actions, the agency added.
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