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Taiwan
ChinaDiplomacy

Closer unofficial ties? Taiwanese coastguard ship docks in Japan

  • While on fishery patrol mission the armed Hsun Hu No 8 stops at Tokyo port ‘for routine maintenance and supply
  • Port call comes as former Japanese prime minister Taro Aso winds up a three-day visit to Taiwan

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Taiwan’s armed coastguard vessel the Hsun Hu No 8 docked in Tokyo Bay on Tuesday “for routine maintenance and supply”, according to the island’s coastguard authority. Photo: CNA
Lawrence Chungin Taipei
An armed Taiwanese coastguard vessel has made a rare port call in Japan amid Beijing’s growing military pressure in the region.
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Japan, which switched diplomatic recognition to Beijing from Taipei in 1972, has previously been extremely cautious in its policy on cross-strait relations and largely reluctant to openly confront mainland China over Taiwan.

An observer said the port call represented more robust unofficial ties between Taiwan and Japan as Tokyo became increasingly wary of a possible cross-strait conflict in which it could become involved.

03:01

China’s PLA sends dozens of warplanes near Taiwan as island holds annual Han Kuang military drills

China’s PLA sends dozens of warplanes near Taiwan as island holds annual Han Kuang military drills

The 1,900-tonne Hsun Hu No 8 stopped at Tokyo Bay on Tuesday, about two weeks after leaving Taiwan’s southern city of Kaohsiung, according to the global ship tracker Marine Traffic.

The site’s live-tracking map showed that the ship, a fishery patrol vessel sailing under the flag of Taiwan, remained in Tokyo Bay on Wednesday.

Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration confirmed that the Hsun Hu No 8 docked at Harumi Wharf in Tokyo “for routine maintenance and supply”.

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“To strengthen our fishery patrols and protect our fishing rights … the Coast Guard Administration … has carried out its second high-seas patrol mission through the Hsun Hu No 8, which left Kaohsiung Port on July 15 and is expected to return to Taiwan on September 12,” the administration said on Wednesday.

The administration stopped short of saying if the port call had long been planned. It is rare for official Taiwanese vessels to stop in Tokyo or any other Japanese port unless in an emergency or to shelter from a tropical storm.

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