Taiwan’s coast guard is hitting back against Chinese ships entering its waters. More vessels are encroaching Taiwanese waters after the Chinese fishing season reopened.
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00:00A Chinese fishing vessel spotted trespassing by the Taiwanese Coast Guard.
00:15China's fishing season has just reopened and tens of thousands of boats like this are heading
00:19out of Chinese harbours and coming near Taiwan's islands just across the strait.
00:26Beijing claims all of it, the waters and Taiwan, as part of its territory, and has
00:30been upping threats to take the island nation by force.
00:34Along with the massive fishing fleet, China sent three government boats across the median
00:38line, an unofficial but sensitive demarcation of boundaries.
00:42This operation is aimed at increasing the ability of the Taiwan Strait's maritime traffic
00:46control and emergency rescue services to ensure the safety of the ships, facilities and personnel
00:52Taiwan warns that such actions are part of grey zone warfare tactics used by China, also
01:02known as the PRC, to put pressure on the South Rhode Island nation to accept its claims of
01:06sovereignty without resorting to full military conflict.
01:10Now the Taiwan side will have to respond by showing that they do have jurisdiction, but
01:15do so in a way that also shows that they are not escalating, because the PRC side, I think,
01:20will be quite ready to take any Taiwan action and to show that it is provocative and dangerous
01:27and escalatory.
01:28So far, Taiwan has shown it is unafraid to go head-to-head with Chinese Coast Guard,
01:33now even sharing videos of the confrontations.
01:36China Coast Guard, 14608, this is ROC Taiwan patrol vessel, PP3520 calling.
01:46Adjust your course and leave our restricted waters immediately.
01:51Taiwan's Coast Guard has increased its patrols and says it will be resolutely enforcing the
01:56law to protect Taiwan's rights at sea.
02:00It's a balancing act of standing one's ground without provoking an already belligerent neighbour.
02:06There's been animosity across the strait for decades, but in recent months the focus has
02:11been the waters, where incidents between the two sides have at times become deadly.
02:16With the fishing season reopened and more Chinese fishing ships coming near Taiwan,
02:21the chance of a misstep is increasing, and with that, the prospect of sparking a greater
02:26conflict.
02:27Alex Chen, Joseph Wu, and Rick Lowatt in New Taipei for Taiwan Plus.