Taipei, March 16
Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration (CGA) has once again repelled four Chinese Coast Guard patrol vessels that intruded upon the restricted waters near Kinmen Island, a territory under Taiwan's control, marking the second such incident within a span of 24 hours, as reported by CNA Taiwan.
According to a brief statement from the CGA, Taiwanese coast guard patrol vessels shadowed the Chinese ships after they were detected at 8:54 am, and broadcast warnings until they left Kinmen's prohibited and restricted waters at 10:06 am.
This recent encounter follows a similar incident on Friday when four Chinese Coast Guard vessels were sighted approximately 3 nautical miles south of Kinmen Island and promptly expelled by Taiwan's Coast Guard, as per CNA Taiwan.
In a statement issued Friday, the China Coast Guard said the ships were "legally" patrolling waters off Kinmen.
According to Focus Taiwan, the restricted and prohibited waters in the area are boundaries that were set by Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense in 1992.
According to the CGA, the term "prohibited waters" refers to territorial waters, while "restricted waters" refers to a contiguous zone, an area designated by states to bolster their law enforcement capacity in waters just outside their territorial seas.
At present, the prohibited zone around the main islands of Kinmen and Little Kinmen extends eastward about 4 kilometres, southward about 8 kilometres, and north and northeast about halfway to the coast of China.