Taiwan expels four Chinese Coast Guard ships sailing near the Kinmen Islands

The Taiwan Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said four Chinese vessels entered the “restricted waters” of the Kinmen Islands on Monday at around 3:30 pm (8:30 am in Lisbon), according to a statement, quoted by the EFE news agency.

In response, the CGA “immediately sent” three patrol boats “to prevent the fleet from continuing to sail”, which happened at around 16:37 (09:37 in Lisbon), when the Chinese ships left the area .

The Taiwanese side stated that such incursions “seriously harm peace and stability” on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, urging the Chinese authorities to “immediately put an end” to such behavior and uphold the “principle of reciprocity and mutual respect “.

According to the same note, the AGC will continue to monitor the situation with detection and search teams “24 hours a day”, acting “firmly” to repel these incursions, carried out “at irregular intervals and without warning”.

“In terms of law enforcement, official vessels on the mainland [chinês] sailing in our waters will be expelled to ensure safe and orderly navigation at sea”, he said in the same statement.

Kinmen is located just 10 kilometers from Xiamen and 180 kilometers from the main island of Taiwan.

Tensions around this archipelago, where around 100,000 Taiwanese live, increased on February 14, when a Chinese speedboat – without a certificate, name or port registration number – entered the waters off Kinmen and two of the four crew members died after a pursuit by the Taiwan Coast Guard.

Following this incident, China announced “patrols to protect the lives and property of fishermen”, which has resulted in frequent incursions by Coast Guard vessels in the area.

The Kinmen Islands have been the subject of multiple disputes between China and Taiwan over the decades, most notably a massive bombing in 1958, when the Chinese military opened fire on the archipelago as part of the second Taiwan Strait crisis.

The presence of these Chinese ships around Kinmen occurs just two weeks before the inauguration of the elected president and current vice-president of Taiwan, William Lai, considered an independentist by Beijing.