Taiwan’s concerns grow over Quemoy waters as mainland China steps up ‘normal’ patrols

The mainland coastguard said on Friday that its patrols were legal that it would “continue to step up patrols to protect the legitimate rights and interests, safety and property of Chinese fishermen, including those from Taiwan”.

Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office also said the increased patrols were a “normal act” as “Taiwan is a part of China and regular law enforcement in waters near Quemoy is the duty of the mainland coastguard”.

The TAO accused the government of Taiwan’s independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party for the “trampling of human life” and “failing to repent” over the fatal boat pursuit incident.

Taiwan’s coastguard said it warned off four ships on Friday and four others on Saturday when they approached the waters near Quemoy.

“The move has seriously impacted traffic and safety. To avoid triggering naval incidents we urge them to stop such behaviour,” the island’s coastguard said on Saturday.

Beijing – which sees Taiwan as territory that must be reunited with the mainland, by force if necessary – accused the island’s coastguard of using “violent and dangerous methods” in the pursuit.

Last month, mainland coastguard officers boarded a Taiwanese tourist boat to check the vessel’s licence and captain’s certificate, further stoking cross-strait tensions.

A US State Department official said Beijing’s “continued provocations” in waters close to Quemoy “revealed its intention to unilaterally change the status quo”.

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“Maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is in line with our consistent interests and is crucial to regional and global security and prosperity,” a US official was quoted as saying by Taiwan’s semi-official Central News Agency on Saturday.

The official called for the two sides to exercise restraint and resolve the issue peacefully.

The US, like most countries, does not recognise the self-ruled island as independent, but is opposed to any forcible change to the status quo and is committed to arming the island.

“By normalising its patrol missions in the waters around Quemoy, Beijing aims to gradually create the impression that such missions are legitimate before eventually establishing its de facto jurisdiction over the area,” said Chieh Chung, a security researcher at the National Policy Foundation, a think tank affiliated with the main opposition Kuomintang party.

He said the Taiwanese coastguard must send at least two larger vessels to regularly patrol the waters around Quemoy to counter Beijing’s attempts.

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Su Tzu-yun, an analyst at the Institute for National Defence and Security Research, a government think tank based in Taipei, said Beijing’s increased patrols were part of its “systematic use of grey zone [non-military] tactics to undermine the sovereignty” of the island.

He said Taipei must step up its risk management for unintended incidents that could spark a potential conflict.

Meanwhile, two Taiwanese men who had been fishing in waters off a Quemoy beach were rescued by the mainland coastguard after their boat ran out of fuel and drifted to a bay near the mainland city of Quanzhou on Monday, according to Taiwan’s coastguard administration.