Qiu Guozheng: “We are very concerned about accidental clashes between the two sides.”
While the Chinese Coast Guard boarded a Taiwanese cruise ship near Kinmen Island and inspected it, Taiwan’s Minister of National Defense Chu Kuo-jung stated, “The military will not preemptively intervene.”
According to Taiwan’s Central News Agency on the 20th, Director Chu attended a hearing at the Legislative Yuan (corresponding to the National Assembly) the previous day and was asked a related question, saying, “The Maritime Order (corresponding to the Coast Guard) must handle related issues, and to prevent a war from breaking out, the military must take a preemptive action.” “We will not intervene,” he said.
Director Chu emphasized, “If the (Taiwanese) military intervenes, the conflict will escalate further, and this is not what people want,” adding, “I hope related issues can be resolved peacefully.”
He added, “I am very concerned about an incident (accidental collision) between guns on both sides of the Strait (China and Taiwan) being triggered while cleaning.”
At 4:47 p.m. on the 19th, six Chinese Coast Guard ships approached the Chuur, a cruise ship belonging to Taiwan’s Jinxia Shipping Company, near Kinmen Island and ordered it to stop, and then Chinese Coast Guard officers boarded the ship and conducted an inspection.
According to Taiwanese media, at the time, the Chuur was carrying 23 tourists and 11 sailors from Kinmen Island Pier and was on a marine tour.
The Chinese Coast Guard requested the captain of the Tsuru to provide a voyage plan, ship certificate, and identification documents for the captain and crew, and inspected the ship for about 30 minutes. When a Taiwan maritime vessel belonging to the Taiwan Sea Order, which had been contacted and dispatched later, arrived, the ship disembarked and returned.
Afterwards, Taiwan’s Haesunseo accompanied the Churu on its way to Shuitou Port.
The unusual inspection by the Chinese coast guard is attracting attention as it follows a confrontation between the two sides following the death of two Chinese people when a Chinese fishing boat that was fleeing to avoid inspection by the Taiwan Coast Guard capsized in Kinmen Island Vice County on the 14th.
On the 18th, the China Coast Guard announced that it would conduct regular patrols between Xiamen and Taiwan’s Kinmen Island.
From the morning of the 19th, four Chinese official vessels carried out so-called ‘protection’ activities against Chinese fishing boats operating in Kinmen. In the afternoon, six Chinese coast guard ships circled the waters around Kinmen Island and threatened Taiwanese ships.
Meanwhile, the Fujian Province Quanzhou Red Cross sent staff along with their families to Kinmen Island on the 20th to receive the two surviving fishermen and begin recovery work.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.