China’s coastguard said it conducted patrols and inspections in the waters around the Taiwan-controlled Kinmen Islands on Sunday, Taiwan News reported. The Fujian Coast Guard carried out the patrols to “strengthen law enforcement inspections in key areas, to effectively maintain the order of operations in the relevant sea areas, and safeguard the safety of fishermen’s lives and property,” it said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the patrols come as closed-door meetings between the families of deceased Chinese fishermen and Taiwan’s Coast Guard take place on Kinmen. The fishermen died on February 14 when their boat capsized after being chased by Taiwan’s Coast Guard near the islands.
China blamed Taiwanese authorities for the deaths. Although, Taiwan’s Coast Guard apologized but also said it acted in “accordance with the law,” Taiwan News reported. The meetings between the families of the deceased and Taiwanese authorities are expected to continue over the coming days.
Earlier on Saturday, the United States and European Union affirmed the importance of maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and called for the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues. Both countries also sought to address the challenges posed by China’s non-market policies and practices. Both sides confirmed their intention to continue de-risking by investing in their resilience and reducing critical dependencies and vulnerabilities, the joint statement said.
Meanwhile, a recent survey showed more than 80 per cent of Taiwanese people want to maintain the status quo with China, with those preferring to keep Taiwan’s current status indefinitely rising sharply, while those who want independence have been dropping since 2020, Central News Agency Taiwan reported. Earlier, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence (MND) detected 11 Chinese military aircraft and six naval vessels around Taiwan between 6 am (local time) on Thursday and 6 am (local time) on Friday.
According to Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence, of the 11 People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, one crossed the Taiwan Strait median line in the southwest corner of Taiwan’s air defence identification zone (ADIZ). Another People’s Liberation Army (PLA) plane entered the southwest sector of the ADIZ.