China must have seen the recent loss of two Chinese nationals, fishermen who died while being pursued by the Taiwanese coast guard, as providing an excellent opportunity to further harass Taiwan.
The deaths were apparently accidental. Four Chinese fishermen had been fishing about one nautical mile from Kinmen archipelago, which Taiwan has designated a restricted area. When attempting to elude the Taiwan’s coast guard, the fishermen’s boat capsized, and two of the four persons on board died.
Huizhong Wu reports (Associated Press, February 18, 2024):
China has issued a furious condemnation and blamed Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party for the fishermen’s deaths. It also said that there was no such thing as “restricted” waters.
Taiwan said an investigation was underway and that its Mainland Affairs Council said they were communicating with Chinese authorities.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office vowed on Sunday further measures, without clarifying further detail.
“The Mainland reserves the right to take further action, and all the consequences will be borne by Taiwan,” said Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office.
Although China has announced that there is no such thing as “restricted” waters, this will be news to China, which regularly and aggressively chases away the nationals of other countries within the proximate waters of those other countries.
On the other hand, the statement is no self-contradiction if taken to mean simply that the Chinese government regards all the waters of the earth as belonging only to itself to unrestrictedly operate in and control as it wishes.
Also see:
StopTheChinazis.org: “China Wants It All”
“If you think that all the other countries really belong to your own country despite current appearances to the contrary, you may well feel entitled to transgress the boundaries of any other ‘country’ at will and to make a lot of importunate demands of that ‘country’ as if you owned the place. In your view, you do.”
