The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) personnel yesterday expelled two Chinese research vessels from waters north of Taiwan, the CGA said in a news release.
The two vessels — the Xiang Yang Hong 18 (向陽紅18) and the Dong Fang Hong 3 (東方紅3) — were detected in waters north of Taiwan at 9:58am, sailing southeast and northeast respectively, it said.
The CGA said it dispatched patrol vessels to shadow and monitor the Chinese boats in a two-to-one formation, driving them out of Taiwan’s waters.
Photo courtesy of the Coast Guard Administration
The research boats were detected 58 nautical miles (107km) northwest of Pengjia Islet (彭佳嶼), with the Xiang Yang Hong 18 heading in the direction of Taiwan proper, it said.
At 12:16pm, the CGA broadcast a warning 7.8 nautical miles west of Pengjia Islet and forced the vessel away using maneuvering techniques, it said.
Radio communication with the Xiang Yang Hong 18 confirmed that it had changed course to depart. At 3:45pm, the vessel was 25 nautical miles east of Pengjia Islet, leaving Taiwan’s waters, it said, adding that one CGA vessel continued to monitor the boat.
At 12:35pm, the Dong Fang Hong 3 was 42 nautical miles north-northwest of Cape Fugui (富貴角) (14 nautical miles outside the restricted waters), sailing northeast. The CGA vessels shadowed the boat along the boundary of Taiwan’s waters. At 4pm, it was 40 nautical miles north-northwest of Pengjia Islet, and the CGA personnel continued to monitor it to ensure it did not change course toward Taiwan’s waters, it said.
“The Chinese research vessels have blatantly ignored international maritime regulations by intruding into Taiwan’s waters,” the CGA said. “We called on China to cease such actions that undermine regional peace and stability. Such actions only stir resentment among people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.”
The CGA would continue to uphold maritime law and would closely monitor the activities of Chinese vessels approaching or entering Taiwan’s waters, it said.
In other news, a recent report by three Control Yuan members on four incidents from June last year to May in which small Chinese vessels entered Taiwan’s waters in the north — one of which involved a Chinese boat entering the Tamsui River estuary undetected — said that the incidents showed a critical failure of defenses.
The report, by Control Yuan members Lai Ting-ming (賴鼎銘), Yeh Yi-chin (葉宜津), and Hsiao Tzu-yu (蕭自佑), said the mouth of the Tamsui River is only about 8km from Guandu Bridge and 22km from Taiwan’s political and economic hub.
The Ministry of National Defense has long regarded the area as a key location where the People’s Liberation Army could enter Taiwan to carry out a decapitation strike, it said.
Given this vulnerability, the estuary should be heavily fortified, but a Chinese boat — 7m long, 1.97m wide, weighing 1.8 tonnes, and traveling at 18 knots (33km) — was able to easily sail all the way to Tamsui Pier 2, underscoring a serious weakness in defenses, it said.
The report recommended that the CGA conduct a thorough review of personnel training and equipment procurement.
It also said that the CGA Special Task Unit should conduct unannounced penetration tests on CGA units to improve vigilance and readiness in monitoring and surveillance.
Additional reporting by Lo Tien-pin
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