 "Taiwan says Chinese boats around Kinmen island daily since deadly incident")
Following a tragic boat incident last month, Taiwan’s coast guard head stated on Monday that six to seven Chinese vessels are on average present in the seas surrounding Kinmen island every day.
On February 14, while being followed by the Taiwanese coast guard, a Chinese speedboat carrying four individuals collapsed near Kinmen, plunging everyone on board into the ocean.
Just five kilometres (three miles) from the Chinese city of Xiamen, Kinmen is a region governed by Taipei, where two of the crew members perished and the other two were rescued and placed under temporary custody.
Tensions between China and Taiwan, an independent island that Beijing claims is a part of its sovereignty, have increased as a result of the event.
“Since the February 14 incident, they deliberately have six to seven vessels on average daily and as many as 11 vessels during the daytime,” Taiwanese coast guard chief Chou Mei-wu told a parliamentary committee, referring to China.
“They are not only coast guard boats, but also maritime surveillance ships and other vessels from (Chinese) authorities. Their intention is to surround Kinmen,” he said.
Chou said the coast guard had “expelled” the vessels, but he did not provide details.
A survivor of the boat crash has reportedly claimed the vessel was “rammed”, while the Taiwanese coast guard has said it “lost its balance and capsized”.
Beijing has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control, and in recent years has ramped up its rhetoric of “unification”.
It has stepped up military pressure on Taiwan by deploying warplanes and naval vessels around the island on a near-daily basis.
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