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Mainland China coastguard to mount regular patrols where 2 fishermen died after Taiwan chase
- Fujian bureau will carry out regular inspections in waters between Xiamen and Taiwan
- Move to ‘maintain operational order and safeguard fishermen’ comes days after Beijing condemned deaths during chase by Taiwanese boats off Quemoy
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Vanessa Caiin Shanghai
Mainland Chinese coastguard have pledged to regularly patrol the waters near Quemoy, a Taiwan-controlled group of islands also known as Kinmen.
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This comes days after Beijing condemned Taiwan over the deaths of two mainland Chinese fishermen whose boat capsized during a chase by Taiwanese patrol vessels near Quemoy.
In a statement on its website on Sunday, the mainland coastguard said its Fujian bureau would carry out regular patrols and inspections in waters between Xiamen and Taiwan to strengthen maritime law enforcement.
Fujian province’s port city of Xiamen lies just a few nautical miles from Quemoy, a defence outpost of Taiwan and its nearest point to the mainland.
The regular patrols aimed to “maintain operational order in sea areas and safeguard fishermen’s lives and property”, the statement said.
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Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) – which oversees cross-strait ties – said it had taken note of the coastguard’s move.
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