If a Chinese military ship encroaches into restricted waters near Kinmen County, the situation would be dealt with according to existing contingency measures, Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said today when asked about frequent incursions by Chinese coast guard ships near the outlying county.
China Coast Guard vessels have increased activity in prohibited and restricted waters around Kinmen in an attempt to establish a “new normal” that refutes the prohibition, Koo told lawmakers at a committee hearing.
However, as the vessels are non-military, the armed forces have been coordinating with the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) to monitor their movements, he said.
Photo courtesy of the Coast Guard Administration
If a Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy vessel were to cross into prohibited territory, it would be dealt with as a contingency, he added.
Koo was responding to questions after the incursions after the CGA yesterday morning monitored four China Coast Guard vessels in restricted waters off Kinmen.
The intrusion was reported to the CGA's Kinmen-Matsu-Penghu Branch some time after 5am, which dispatched three patrol boats to keep tabs on the vessels and gather evidence until they left the area at 8am, the branch said.
The four Chinese boats — with pennant numbers 14609, 14603, 14513 and 14605 — paired up and respectively entered the restricted area from east of Beiding Island (北碇) and south of Fuxing Islet (復興) for sorties that lasted about two hours, the branch said.
In the afternoon, the China Coast Guard claimed its actions were legal.
Referring to the intrusion as an effort to "further strengthen [China's] control of the waters," the China Coast Guard said via its official account in a WeChat message group that the move was aimed at ensuring residents' fishing rights as well as life and property security within China's territory, which it claimed "includes Taiwan."
The incident is viewed as a response to the deaths of two Chinese on Feb. 14, when a Chinese speedboat pursued by CGA personnel for illegally entering Taiwanese waters capsized near Kinmen, resulting in all four crew members being thrown into the water, two of whom died.
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