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☆ Chinese travelers trickle back to a Taiwanese island, mere miles from the mainland
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-08 | by ( Jan Camenzind Broomby | Marylou Costa | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

All that separates the cafe from mainland China are 6 miles of choppy water and a row of anti-invasion spikes along the beach. A row of anti-invasion spikes line a beach on Kinmen, with the Chinese mainland in the distance. Source: Jan Camenzind BroombyAlthough China claims sovereignty over Taiwan, Chinese tourists were prevented from visiting Taiwan for years. But on Feb. 14, two Chinese citizens were killed during a collision between a Taiwanese Coast Guard boat and a Chinese boat, sparking an escalation of tensions. local business owners have felt the impact of the loss of Chinese tourists, who previously contributed nearly $200 million to Kinmen's annual economy.

Persons: Zhang Zhong, Zhang, Camenzind Broomby, Kinmen, Soldiers, Chen Hua Sheng, weren't, Wu Zeng Yun, Beddy Chang, she's, Wu Zeng Yun —, Wu, Lu Wen Shiung, Lu, Chen Yu Jen Organizations: Kinmen, Taiwanese Coast Guard, Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, Matsu Joint Services Center, China's Coast Guard, Chinese Coast Guard Locations: China, Taiwan, Beijing, Kinmen, Kinmen County, Covid, Matsu, Taiwanese

☆ Beijing Deplores Taiwan’s Next President, but Welcomes an Old One
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-31 | by ( Chris Buckley | Amy Chang Chien | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

As tensions fester between China and Taiwan, one elder politician from the island democracy is getting an effusive welcome on the mainland: Ma Ying-jeou, a former president. Mr. Ma’s 11-day trip across China, which was set to begin on Monday, comes at a fraught time. Beijing and Taipei have been in dispute over two Chinese fishermen who died while trying to flee a Taiwanese coast guard vessel in February, and China has sent its own coast guard ships close to a Taiwanese-controlled island near where the men died. Taiwanese officials expect China to intensify its military intimidation once the island’s next president, Lai Ching-te, takes office on May 20. His Democratic Progressive Party rejects Beijing’s claim that Taiwan is part of China, and Chinese officials particularly dislike Mr. Lai, often citing his 2017 description of himself as a “pragmatic worker for Taiwan’s independence.”On the other hand, China’s warm treatment of Mr. Ma, 73, Taiwan’s president from 2008 to 2016, seems a way to emphasize that Beijing will keep an open door for politicians who favor closer ties and accept its conditions for talks.

Persons: Ma Ying, Ma’s, Lai Ching, Lai, ”, Ma Organizations: Democratic Progressive Party Locations: China, Taiwan, Beijing, Taipei, Taiwanese

☆ China’s Dispute With Taiwan Is Playing Out Near This Frontline Island
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-24 | by ( Chris Buckley | Amy Chang Chien | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

A small island controlled by Taiwan a few miles off China’s coast lived for decades in constant readiness for war. At one point in 1958, troops there hunkered in bunkers as Communist forces rained hundreds of thousands of shells on them. These days, the island, Kinmen, has become a hub of Taiwan’s commerce with China and its abandoned, weatherworn fortifications are tourist sites. Eight ferries a day take Taiwanese businesspeople and visitors from Kinmen to mainland China. But the sea around Kinmen has again turned tense after two Chinese men onboard a speedboat died in the area last month while trying to flee a Taiwanese Coast Guard vessel.

Organizations: Coast Guard Locations: Taiwan, Kinmen, China

Boat tours around Kinmen are still operating, though under a closer watch by Taiwan’s coast guard. Officers visit each boat before they set sail and warn captains not to stray into Chinese waters. “In the past, whenever a mainland ship crossed the median line (into Taiwan’s waters), our cannons would fire toward it without warning,” Hung said. On Monday, five Chinese coast guard ships entered prohibited or restricted waters around Kinmen, but left shortly after being warned away by Taiwan’s coast guard, according to a Taiwan minister. Last week, Chinese coast guard officers boarded a Taiwanese tour boat for inspection, an unprecedented move that startled passengers on board.

Persons: ”, Hung Ho, cheng, Hung, Mao Zedong’s, Chiang Kai, John Mees, Kinmen, ” Hung, Sam Yeh, Kuan, ” Kuan, Chang, Wu Chia, chiang Organizations: Taiwan CNN —, Residents, Mao Zedong’s Communist, Nationalist, CNN, Mao’s Communist, Taiwan, Taiwan’s Ocean Affairs Council, Tourism Association Locations: Kinmen, Taiwan, China, China’s, Beijing, It’s, Staten Island, “, Taipei, Xiamen, AFP, Taiwanese, China's Xiamen

Taipei, Taiwan CNN —American support for Taiwan will continue no matter who wins the upcoming US election, House Rep. Mike Gallagher told an audience in the democratic island on Thursday, as tensions simmer between Taipei and Beijing. “I’m confident regardless of how the presidential election goes, we will maintain our support not only for Taiwan but also a posture of internationalism and engagement,” Gallagher told reporters in the capital Taipei. Gallagher said American efforts to support Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s invasion were also critical to deterring Beijing from using force against Taiwan. American lawmakers regularly visit Taiwan and have supported legislation to bolster US support for the island and its defensive capabilities. 07:53 - Source: CNNTroubled watersThe delegation’s visit comes during a period of heightened tensions between China and Taiwan, sparked by the drowning of two Chinese fishermen near Taiwan’s Kinmen Island last week.

Persons: Mike Gallagher, “, ” Gallagher, Gallagher, Donald Trump, Trump, Joe Biden, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Tsai Ing, Lai Ching, Tsai, ” Tsai, China, ”, ” “, …, ” Zhu Fenglian, Chen Chien Organizations: Taiwan CNN, Communist Party, Taiwan, NATO, Democratic, Washington, CNN, Taipei, Republican, Wisconsin, Chinese Foreign Ministry, Taiwan Affairs Locations: Taipei, Taiwan, Beijing, China, Ukraine, Europe, Raja, United States, Taiwanese, ”

☆ China’s coast guard has triggered ‘panic’ in Taiwan. That’s only part of Beijing’s plan
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-21 | by ( Nectar Gan | Wayne Chang | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

“It’s super scary,” a passenger told Taiwan’s United Daily News in a video upon returning to shore under the escort of a Taiwanese coast guard ship on Monday. “(The Chinese coast guard) chose a tourist vessel because it’s high profile – you would expect lots of people on the boat with cameras and phones,” he said. The stakes are high, as the increased presence and closer proximity of Chinese and Taiwanese coast guard vessels raise the specter of miscalculations that could potentially spiral into open conflict. Speaking to reporters about the inspection by the Chinese coast guard, Taiwan’s Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-kcheng highlighted such risks, saying the defense ministry is “very concerned” about potential miscalculations. Taiwan's coast guard inspects a vessel that capsized during a chase off the coast of Kinmen on February 14, 2024.

Persons: King Xia, ” Kuan, Taiwan’s, Ian Chong, Chong, ”, “ They’re, Chiu Kuo, Lai Ching, China’s, Nancy Pelosi’s, Tian Feilong, It’s, Tian, “, Lai Organizations: Taipei CNN, Taiwan’s United Daily News, Taiwan’s Ocean Affairs Council, Democratic Progressive Party, National University of Singapore, South China, Taiwan’s, Taiwan Coast Guard Administration Locations: Hong Kong, Taipei, Taiwanese, Kinmen, China’s, Beijing, Taiwan, Xiamen, China, East, South, Taiwan's, Nauru, Taiwan Strait

☆ Sand dredging is 'sterilising' ocean floor, UN warns
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Ann Wang/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsGENEVA, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Around 6 billion tons of marine sand is being dug up each year in a growing practice that a U.N. agency said is unsustainable and can wipe out local marine life irreversibly. The findings from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) coincide with the launch of a new platform 'Marine Sand Watch' backed by funding from the Swiss government that monitors dredging activities using marine tracking and artificial intelligence. "The amount of sand we are withdrawing from the environment is considerable and has a large impact," UNEP's Pascal Peduzzi told a Geneva press briefing. In some cases, companies remove all the sand to the bedrock, meaning that "life may never recover", Peduzzi added. China, the Netherlands, the United States and Belgium are among the countries most active in the sector, he said.

Persons: Ann Wang, Pascal Peduzzi, Peduzzi, Arnaud Vander Velpen, Emma Farge, Christina Fincher Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, United Nations Environment Programme, UNEP, University of Geneva, Thomson Locations: Taiwan, Swiss, Geneva, China, United States, Netherlands, Belgium

TAIPEI, April 6 (Reuters) - Taiwan officials and defence analysts are bracing for intensifying pressure on the "median line" that has for decades helped keep the peace in the Taiwan Strait as China begins inspecting civilian shipping across the waterway. "As long as they are ships hoisting our country's flag they are all a part of our territory," he said. Taiwan's military will not allow China to "unilaterally" board Taiwanese ships, he said. A senior Taiwan official familiar with security planning said Taiwan would not allow China to board ships in the Taiwan Strait and that Taiwan's coast guard and military would jointly respond if China made a move to do so. Chinese state television broadcast live pictures of the Haixun 6 on patrol, including shaky footage of a Taiwanese coast guard ship shadowing it in the distance.

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