China Coast Guard launches regular patrols in Xiamen-Kinmen waters

The China Coast Guard (CCG) has launched regular law enforcement patrols in the waters of Xiamen-Kinmen area as part of efforts to protect fishermen's lives and property, spokesperson Gan Yu said on Sunday.

The CCG in southeastern China's Fujian Province will strengthen maritime law enforcement in the waters to help maintain the order of maritime operations, said Gan in a statement.

The move comes following a Wednesday incident in which a fishing boat from Fujian Province was expelled by Taiwan in the waters of Kinmen area, which led to all four fishermen aboard falling into the sea, two of whom died.

In a separate statement released on Sunday, Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, expressed support for the CCG operation.

The disregarding of human lives and "bad attitude" by the Taiwan side concerning the incident has sparked widespread outrage on the mainland, severely hurting the feelings of compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Straits and gravely damaging cross-Straits relations, said Zhu.

The regular law enforcement patrols by the CCG will be conducive to maintaining order in the relevant waters and ensuring the safety of lives and property of mainland fishermen, she said.

Related link: China Coast Guard launches regular patrols in Xiamen-Kinmen waters

China to send coast guard ships as tensions rise over Taiwanese islands

BEIJING, Feb 18 (Reuters) - China's coast guard said on Sunday it will strengthen its law enforcement activities and carry out regular patrols around a small group of Taiwanese-controlled islands off the Chinese coast as tensions rise over the deaths of two Chinese nationals.

Taiwan on Thursday defended the actions of its coast guard after two people on a Chinese speedboat, which got too close to a frontline Taiwanese island, died when their boat overturned while trying to flee a coast guard ship. Two others survived.

Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, has complained in recent years about Chinese fishing boats and other vessels operating in Taiwan-controlled waters, especially around the Kinmen and Matsu islands which sit a short distance from China's coast.

China has condemned Taiwan's actions and labelled the incident near Kinmen's Beiding islet "wicked".

China's coast guard said in a short statement it will strengthen its maritime law enforcement forces and carry out regular law enforcement patrols and inspections in the waters around Kinmen and Xiamen, one of the Chinese cities Kinmen faces.

This is to "further maintain the order of operations in the relevant waters and safeguard the safety of fishermen's lives and property", it added.

Late on Saturday, China's Taiwan Affairs Office said the deaths had caused "strong indignation" in China, but that there were no off limits waters.

"Fishermen on both sides of the Taiwan Strait have been operating in traditional fishing grounds in the Xiamen-Kinmen maritime area since ancient times, and there is no such thing as 'prohibited or restricted waters'," it said.

China's government had goodwill towards Taiwan's people, but will never tolerate Taiwan's disregard for the safety of Chinese fishermen, the office added.