Tensions across the strait between China and Taiwan are peaking as China's coast guard repeatedly publicizes its patrols in waters near Jinmen Dao (Kinmen), the front-line islands administered by Taiwan.
According to China's coast guard official social media account on the 26th, Spokesperson Zhu Anqing of the East China Sea Branch of China's coast guard said the day before that the Fujian Province coast guard recently carried out law-enforcement patrols in waters near Jinmen Dao. Zhu said that during the patrols, they took measures such as formation sailing, vessel identification and verification, and warning broadcasts, strengthening management over key controlled waters.
This is the third time in the past month that China's coast guard has publicized patrols of Jinmen Dao. China's coast guard has stepped up patrols in these waters since an incident in Feb. last year in which a Chinese fishing boat capsized while fleeing inspection by Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration near Jinmen Dao, and on the 19th it also said it had patrolled waters near Jinmen Dao.
These moves are being interpreted as China issuing a warning not only to Japan, with which it is at odds over Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's remarks about "intervening in the event of a Taiwan contingency," but also to Taiwan.
In the announcement that day, Spokesperson Zhu said, "Taiwan authorities and some media are maliciously inflating and distorting this issue to mislead the public," adding, "The coast guard will conduct standing law-enforcement patrols in waters near Jinmen Dao to resolutely safeguard the legitimate and lawful rights and interests of fishermen on both sides of the strait as well as the safety of life and property."
Taiwan is pushing back strongly. Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration said that at about 3 p.m. on the 25th, when three Chinese coast guard ships entered waters near Jinmen Dao, it deployed three patrol ships to monitor them and block entry into Taiwan's waters. The Chinese coast guard ships withdrew from the scene about an hour later.
Taiwan's coast guard said, "In conditions where the sea state had severely deteriorated, the act of China's coast guard forming a flotilla and forcing an incursion is unprofessional and irrational," adding, "It ignores navigational safety and poses a major risk to vessels transiting the waters."