Taiwan calls on China to ‘be rational’ after deadly boat incident

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) – Taiwan called on Beijing to “be rational” on Tuesday following a deadly incident involving a Chinese boat and the Taiwanese coast guard, with the island’s premier insisting it would protect its waters.

China claims self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory, and relations between the two have plummeted in recent years.

Last week two Chinese crew members died after a boat capsized near Kinmen, an island administered by Taipei but located just five kilometers from the mainland city of Xiamen.

It was being pursued by Taiwan’s coast guard for being within prohibited waters.

China announced stepped-up patrols around Taiwan’s waters, and on Monday members of its coast guard briefly boarded a Taiwanese cruise ship to check the captain and passengers’ details.

Taiwan’s Premier Chen Chien-jen said Tuesday that both sides had been aware of “restricted and off-limits sea areas” since 1992.

“We will continue to protect these sea areas to ensure safety in our territorial waters and the rights of our fishermen,” he told reporters outside Taiwan’s parliament.

“We hope both sides can be rational, equitable and cooperate with each other to ensure the safety of the

Kinmen-xiamen waters so that the people from both sides of the strait can engage with each other in a healthy and orderly manner.”

Taiwan’s defense minister said the military would not get involved, leaving it to the coast guard to monitor waters around Kinmen, “because we want to avoid war”.

“If we intervene, it will escalate the conflict which we do not want to see,” Chiu Kuo-cheng told reporters. “Let’s handle the matter peacefully.” Beijing has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control, and in recent years has ramped up the rhetoric of “unification.”