The coast guard drove away 567 Chinese boats and seized seven illegally operating in Taiwanese waters in the first six months of this year, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday.
They mostly operated near Kinmen and Penghu counties, resulting in fines totaling NT$1.7 million (US$52,440), it said.
Three ships — two near Kinmen County and one near Penghu County — were detained in January for illegally crossing the border, while one ship each was detained near Kinmen in February and Penghu in March respectively, it said.
Photo: RITCHIE B. TONGO, EPA-EFE
The ship seized near Penghu in January was the Yun Ao (雲澳), detained by the CGA’s 8th Patrolling Fleet on Jan. 12, CGA public data showed. Six sailors were onboard and detained.
Chinese fishers reportedly often enter Taiwanese interdicted or restricted waters piloting non-registered ships.
The ships’ names are often painted over or absent entirely, and they usually refuse to stop for coast guard inspections, a source said.
Meanwhile, the CGA’s Penghu branch yesterday received a distress call from the Penghu-registered Sheng Yuan Fu No. 8 (聖元福8號) and dispatched three ships to protect it.
The vessel said it was fishing in international waters and was driven away by the China Coast Guard.
The China Coast Guard ships were reportedly sighted southwest of Cimei (七美) and Mudouyu (目斗嶼), in an unusual move crossing the 12 nautical mile (22km) law enforcement line and entering the high seas to enforce Chinese law.
The action comes after the China Coast Guard on Tuesday boarded and seized the Taiwanese fishing vessel Da Jin Man No. 88 (大進滿88號).
At the time it was operating in a “common fishing ground” between Taiwan and China, despite it being located within Chinese territorial waters, the Fisheries Agency said.
Taiwanese fishing vessels were not previously prohibited from working there due to a “tacit agreement” between the two sides, the agency said.
Tuesday’s incident marked the fourth of its kind in 21 years, the CGA said.
On July 11, 2003, five Penghu-registered fishing vessels were seized by China Fishery Law Enforcement vessels 103 nautical miles southwest of Penghu’s Cimei Township.
The ships were released after paying a fine, and returned to Penghu on July 13 that year.
On July 24, 2005, six Penghu-registered fishing vessels were seized by China Fishery Law Enforcement vessels 89 nautical miles southwest of Cimei.
The ships were released after paying a fine, and returned to Penghu on July 26 that year.
On July 28, 2007, six Penghu-registered fishing vessels were seized by China Fishery Law Enforcement vessels 44 nautical miles west of Penghu County’s Hua Islet (花嶼).
In all four instances, Taiwanese fishing vessels were seized for contravening China’s closed season for fishing.
In the 2007 incident, the Taiwanese ships were escorted back into Taiwan-controlled waters by CGA vessels following on-site negotiations between the CGA and its Chinese counterpart.
China Fisheries Law Enforcement Command and China Marine Surveillance were China’s maritime law enforcement units, but have since been merged into a unified China Coast Guard in a 2013 reorganization.
Tuesday’s incident was the second this year involving a Taiwan-registered vessel being boarded by the Chinese coast guard.
On Feb. 19, the Sunrise cruise ship was boarded by China Coast Guard personnel in Taiwan-controlled restricted waters off Kinmen.
It was largely seen as retaliation for the fatal capsizing of an unnamed and unregistered speedboat in “restricted waters” off Kinmen, which resulted in the death of two Chinese fishers.
The CGA has seized 467 Chinese fishing vessels illegally operating in Taiwan-controlled fishing sites from 2016 to April, CGA data showed.
Additional reporting by Liu Yu-ching
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