China seizes Taiwanese fishing boat in latest flare-up of tensions

The Chinese coast guard has seized a Taiwanese fishing boat and its crew of five and taken them to a port on the Chinese coast, a latest move by Beijing that is likely to increase pressure on Taiwan President Lai Ching-te.

The fishing boat, Ta Chin Man 88, was in Chinese waters 27 miles northeast of Kinmen, a Taiwan-controlled island close to the Chinese coast, when two Chinese coast guard vessels boarded it and took control on Tuesday night, the Taiwan Coast Guard Administration said. Taiwanese coast guard vessels that went to the area to assist the fishing boat were blocked by their Chinese counterparts, the administration said.

The seas around Taiwan, a self-governing island that China claims as its own, have become increasingly tense, with coast guard confrontations between the two sides appearing to be happening more often. Officials and analysts worry that if such confrontations become more frequent, the risk of a clash that could trigger a broader crisis between world powers could increase.

Taiwanese coast guard vessels sent demands to the Chinese coast guard to free the fishing boat, but the Chinese responded only by “demanding no intervention,” Taiwan’s statement said. The fishing boat had two crew members from Taiwan and three from Indonesia, officials said. Many workers on Taiwanese fishing boats come from Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries.

Hsieh Ching-chin, a spokesman for Taiwan’s coast guard, said the Ta Chin Man 88 had entered Chinese territorial waters. The boat may have been seized because China has more actively enforced an annual moratorium on fishing in those waters since May 1, he said.

“This year, China is different from the past, with stricter law enforcement during the fishing moratorium,” Mr. Hsieh said at a news conference on Wednesday. Mr. Hsieh told reporters that China has seized 17 Taiwanese fishing boats since 2003, with the last incident in 2007.

He called on China to release the boat and crew, saying they should not become pawns in the tensions between China and Taiwan. “China should not use political factors to deal with this incident,” he said.

The seizure — and particularly the possibility that the boat’s five crew members could be held in China for weeks or longer — could exacerbate tensions between Taiwan and Beijing. The Chinese government deeply resents Mr. Lai, who took office in May and has outright rejected Beijing’s claims to sovereignty. In the months before and after his inauguration, China has stepped up efforts to warn and intimidate him and his Democratic Progressive Party leadership.

“They want to show Taiwan that they don’t have control over the airspace and the sea. They certainly seem to be ramping up the pressure,” said Bonnie S. Glaser, director of the Asia Program at the U.S. German Marshall Fund, referring to China’s recent actions. “I think they want to let Lai know that he’s very close to their red lines and that he better not cross them.”

The Chinese government last month issued extensive guidelines on punishments it could impose on people it considers to be supporters of Taiwanese independence, sparking unrest in Taiwan, especially as the rules raise the possibility of death sentences in extreme cases. In response, Taiwan warned its people not to travel to China.

China has also stepped up military flights around Taiwan that appear designed, at least in part, to wear down the island’s air force and other defenses. Nearly 300 People’s Liberation Army aircraft flew into the island’s airspace in June, the second-highest monthly total since Taiwan’s Defense Ministry began regularly reporting such data in 2020. according to PLATrackera site that analyzes data released by the ministry.

That increased military activity does not mean an attack on Taiwan is imminent, experts and diplomats say. Instead, such operations are part of Beijing’s growing “gray zone” tactics to intimidate and exhaust Taiwan while avoiding a major confrontation that could involve the United States, the island’s crucial security supporter. China’s large and well-armed coast guard force is a pillar of that campaign.

In February, a Chinese speedboat capsized after being chased by the Taiwanese coast guard, killing two crew members. Since then, China has repeatedly sent its vessels into waters near Kinmen that Taiwan calls a no-go zone.

In June, the Chinese Coast Guard imposed a ban new rules which sets out the authority to board and detain vessels in waters claimed by Beijing, and to detain foreigners on such vessels.

China is using its coast guard “to exert pressure on Taiwan’s remote islands and the main island,” said Ou Si-fu, a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research in Taipei, a think tank under Taiwan’s Defense Ministry. “This ‘gray zone’ harassment is annoying to Taiwan, it tires it out by running around, because there are so many ships, especially near the remote islands, and Taiwan has no way to effectively counter them.”