A military expert warned of the potential threat of Chinese civilian vessels operating in the waters off Taiwan conducting espionage under the pretense of research.
Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the state-run Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that China currently has a fleet of more than 60 research and survey vessels, and that Taiwan is not the only nation susceptible to their threat.
Su’s comments came following a report in the Financial Times on Tuesday which said that the Zhu Hai Yun (珠海雲), a Chinese drone carrier with links to the People’s Liberation Army, made an unprecedented voyage down the full length of Taiwan’s east coast in November last year.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
In addition, there has been a sharp uptick in the number of such incursions from just two in each of the previous three years to nine since September last year, the Financial Times said.
According to the Financial Times’ analysis of the Zhu Hai Yun’s path, the ship spent a day tracking the 24-nautical mile (44.4km) line east of Taiwan’s shores demarcating the nation’s contiguous territorial zone, crossing it once off the city of Hualien, home to Chiashan Air Force Base, and again in the Bashi Channel, which Chinese ships need to pass through to reach the Pacific Ocean.
“While past incursions occurred mostly north, south and west of Taiwan, there is a more recent focus on the strategic waters to the east,” the Financial Times reported.
Su said that another Chinese ship, the Xiang Yang Hong 03, is to be moored in the Maldives, describing the move as one that would surely touch a raw nerve with the South Asian nation and India.
In addition, China previously dispatched Type 815 Dongdiao-class spy ships to the waters off Australia, he said.
These examples show that Taiwan is not alone in facing Chinese harassment and, more importantly, that Taiwan should be vigilant about espionage.
China frequently uses vessels operated by government and military-affiliated research institutes to assert its claims in disputed waters, sailing close to oil exploration sites inside the exclusive economic zones of Vietnam and Malaysia in the South China Sea, which Beijing claims almost in its entirety.
“This represents one more tool the People’s Republic of China is using in what I call the all-domain pressure campaign against Taiwan,” Christopher Sharman, director of the China Maritime Studies Institute at the US Naval War College, was quoted by the Financial Times as saying.
In light of these threats, Su recommended holding live-fire drills on “red beaches” — beaches along Taiwan’s west coast deemed most vulnerable to landing by Chinese troops — in preparation for a scenario in which China escalates exercises into a conflict.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
MULTIPRONGED APPROACH: China has sought to pressure Palau across a number of fronts, but the island nation has staunchly resisted overtures to ditch Taiwan Palau has been firm in backing Taiwan despite Chinese pressure that uses tourism economics, cyberattacks and criminal infiltration as tools to threaten the Pacific ally into renouncing its recognition of Taiwan as a sovereign state. The Presidential Office yesterday announced that Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) would visit Palau from Saturday to Wednesday next week at the invitation of Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr. Whipps in April said in an interview that China had outspokenly asked Palau to “denounce Taiwan.” “And we have said: ‘We have no enemies, but nobody tells us who our friends are,’” he said. Whipps has told reporters multiple times
RSS