The Chinese vessel Lian He Hai Gong 5001 (聯合海工5001) sailed in a circle around Taiwan from Wednesday to yesterday for an unexplained reason, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday.
The vessel departed from waters off China’s Fujian Province and reached waters south of Taiwan proper, according to data from “Taiwan ADIZ,” a Facebook page dedicated to reporting news and issues related to national defense.
After that, it turned north, sailed off Hualien County and reached waters north of Taiwan, the data showed.
Photo courtesy of the Taiwan ADIZ Facebook page
The Lian He Hai Gong 5001 reached China’s Pingtan Island at 10am yesterday, the data showed.
Why the vessel circled around Taiwan during a joint combat readiness patrol by Beijing is unknown.
The coast guard yesterday said it monitored the Lian He Hai Gong 5001 continuously as it approached Taiwan.
It said it put patrol ships on high alert and dispatched them to give warning broadcasts.
The CGA said it had monitored the vessel through radar and had not detected any anchoring or underwater operations.
It said it had not received any reports of damaged submarine cables.
The CGA would continute to enhance its monitoring capacity with a focus on Chinese vessels and address their threatening moves promptly in accordance with regulations, it said.
It would continue to collaborate closely with the Ministry of National Defense, national security authorities and other governmental agencies to strengthen maritime surveillance and ensure national security, it added.
Meanwhile, the CGA said a China Coast Guard ship numbered 3302 had sailed into prohibited waters west-northwest of the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) at 6am yesterday.
It immediately dispatched the Shun Hu No. 7, a vessel at the Pratas Islands, to monitor the ship and broadcast warning messages.
It also dispatched the Yunlin patrol vessel, and drove the Chinese ship out of the prohibited waters northwest of the Pratas Islands at 6:10am yesterday, the CGA said.
From January to yesterday, six China Coast Guard ships have entered waters around the Pratas Islands 11 times, it said.
They circled around the islands and turned off their automatic identification systems to conceal their whereabouts, it said, adding that such “gray zone” tactics consumed coastal patrol authorities’ law enforcement capacity.
The CGA condemned such intrusions, saying that they not only infringed upon Taiwan’s sovereignty, contravening international law, but also increased the risk of maritime conflicts, undermining regional peace and stability.
The Dongsha Atoll National Park is Taiwan’s first marine national park where all fishing activities are prohibited, it said.
The coast guard said it chased off 31 Chinese fishing boats 111 times from waters around the Pratas Islands and detained seven boats from January to yesterday.
After China’s summer fishing moratorium began on May 1, Chinese fishing boats continued their operations at sea, reflecting a dysfunction in China’s maritime management, it said.
The coast guard urged the Chinese government to control its fishing boats.
China Coast Guard ships should also cease intruding into the waters, it said, adding that it would deploy more large vessels at the Pratas Islands to safeguard its marine resources and Taiwan’s national sovereignty.
Considering that most countries issue more than five denominations of banknotes, the central bank has decided to redesign all five denominations, the bank said as it prepares for the first major overhaul of the banknotes in more than 24 years. Central bank Governor Yang Chin-lung (楊金龍) is expected to report to the Legislative Yuan today on the bank’s operations and the redesign’s progress. The bank in a report sent to the legislature ahead of today’s meeting said it had commissioned a survey on the public’s preferences. Survey results showed that NT$100 and NT$1,000 banknotes are the most commonly used, while NT$200 and NT$2,000
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported the first case of a new COVID-19 subvariant — BA.3.2 — in a 10-year-old Singaporean girl who had a fever upon arrival in Taiwan and tested positive for the disease. The girl left Taiwan on March 20 and the case did not have a direct impact on the local community, it said. The WHO added the BA.3.2 strain to its list of Variants Under Monitoring in December last year, but this was the first imported case of the COVID-19 variant in Taiwan, CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ming-cheng (林明誠) said. The girl arrived in Taiwan on
ANNUAL EVENT: Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in Daan Park, with an event zone operating from 10am to 6pm This year’s Taipei Floral Picnic is to be held at Daan Park today and tomorrow, featuring an exclusive Pokemon Go event, a themed food market, a coffee rave picnic area and stage performances, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said yesterday. Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in the park as attractions, with an exclusive event zone operating from 10am to 6pm, it said. Participants who complete designated tasks on-site would have a chance to receive limited-edition souvenirs, it added. People could also try the newly launched game Pokemon Pokopia in the trial area, the department said. Three PokeStops are
South Korea is planning to revise its controversial electronic arrival card, a step Taiwanese officials said prompted them to hold off on planned retaliatory measures, a South Korean media report said yesterday. A Yonhap News Agency report said that the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs is planning to remove the “previous departure place” and “next destination” fields from its e-arrival card system. The plan, reached after interagency consultations, is under review and aims to simplify entry procedures and align the electronic form with the paper version, a South Korean ministry official said. The fields — which appeared only on the electronic form
RSS