“Normalizing” patrols of the waters around the Kinmen archipelago by Chinese coast guard vessels means the de facto lifting of their “prohibited” status by Taiwan, said Paul Huang, an official with the Public Opinion Foundation of the island on May 3, Taiwan News reported. .
China’s coast guard said on April 29 that it was returning to normal patrols in the waters around Taiwan-administered Kinmen. Huang said this means the patrols introduced on February 18 will now be permanent.
This, in turn, means that the status of the waters around the archipelago, declared by Taiwan as “off-limits”, has been de facto cancelled.
Let us remember that on February 14, an incident occurred between Chinese fishermen and the Taiwanese coast guard. The coast guard vessel was attempting to dislodge the high-speed Chinese fishing boat from the waters around the Kinmen archipelago, which Taiwan considers “off-limits” and does not allow foreign vessels to enter “restricted traffic” waters without permission. “.
During the chase, the boat carrying the Chinese fishermen capsized, trapping four people in the water. They were pulled out of the water and taken to the hospital. However, two fishermen died there.
China called on the island’s authorities to investigate the incident, release the detained fishermen and return their boat. In response, Taiwanese authorities called on China to crack down on fishing violations by Chinese fishermen. They fully justified the actions of their coast guard and claimed that coast guard officers across the Taiwan Strait would have done the same.
Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said that the Taiwan Strait belongs to a single and indivisible China and that the island also belongs to it. Since ancient times, fishermen from both sides of the strait have fished in the strait’s traditional fishing areas.
In the strait there have never been “prohibited” zones or “restricted traffic” waters, he emphasized. China will always show goodwill towards its compatriots, but will not allow Taiwanese authorities to neglect the lives and property rights of Chinese fishermen, Zhu Fenglian concluded.
Media later reported that American troops were stationed on the islands permanently. The presence of American Green Berets on the islands of Kinmen and Penghu was acknowledged by Taiwanese Defense Minister Qiu Guozheng on March 14 while speaking to reporters ahead of his report to parliamentarians on China’s military activity around the island. According to him, the US military regularly conducts training with Taiwanese special forces.
On February 5, the local newspaper United Daily News published information about the permanent deployment of US troops in Kinmen and Penghu. In 2021, in an interview with CNN, Tsai Ing-wen confirmed the presence of US military soldiers in Taiwan for the first time in 40 years.
The head of the US Indo-Pacific Command, Admiral John Aquilino, on March 21 denied reports that US special forces soldiers are permanently stationed in Taiwan.
Source: Rossa Primavera
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