Taiwan’s administration deployed coast guard ships in response to China’s law enforcement operation east of the island, the Taiwan Central News Agency (CNA) reports.
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On Saturday, the Ministry of Transport of the People’s Republic of China announced that on June 6 it organized a special operation in the field of maritime navigation in the waters east of Taiwan Island.
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“The (Taiwan) Coast Guard stated that using joint intelligence, information and surveillance capabilities, it continuously monitors the movements of Chinese vessels and has deployed the necessary forces to respond,” CNA reported.
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It is noted that the coast guard of the island deployed five ships and patrol boats.
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The Ministry of Transport of the People’s Republic of China noted that the operation was a necessary measure in response to the unilateral announcement by Japan and the Philippines of the start of negotiations on the “delimitation of marine areas” east of the Chinese island of Taiwan, which, according to the Chinese side, seriously violates the territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests of the People’s Republic of China.
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Beijing considers Taiwan to be an integral part of China, and compliance with the “one China” principle is a prerequisite for other states wishing to establish or maintain diplomatic relations with China. Official relations between the central government of the People’s Republic of China and its island province were interrupted in 1949, business and informal resumed in the late 1980s. Since the 1990s, they have been in contact through non-governmental organizations.
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The Chinese authorities have repeatedly stressed that no one can stop the inevitable reunification of China, and the separatist forces in Taiwan are “like a praying mantis trying to stop a chariot.”
