Relatives of Dead Chinese Fishers Arrive on Kinmen
Relatives of two Chinese fishers killed when their boat capsized while being pursued by Taiwan's coast guard have arrived on the islands of Kinmen. The incident has led to China stepping up maritime patrols around the Taiwan-governed islands and boarding a tourist boat on Monday.
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NewsTranscript
00:00 This small Taiwan island of Jinmen is just kilometers from the Chinese coast and it's now become the center of quickly
00:07 escalating tensions between Taipei and Beijing. On Monday a tourist vessel from here carrying Taiwan tourists was
00:13 intercepted and boarded by a Chinese Coast Guard vessel. The Chinese Coast Guard spent about half an hour
00:20 checking documents of some people on board before they let it go.
00:23 Now the tourists on board that ship have told local media that they were
00:27 rattled by the incident that they feared they would be taken to China and the Ocean Affairs
00:31 Council minister here has said that the incident triggered panic. Now
00:35 China has said that it will be enforcing its own maritime law and and upping its patrols in this region following the death of two
00:42 Chinese citizens in Taiwan's waters. The relatives of some of those citizens have just arrived in Jinmen today.
00:50 Relations between Beijing and Taipei have been
00:53 deteriorating for years as China ups its claims of sovereignty over Taiwan and Taiwan remains steadfast that it will defend itself
01:00 against Chinese aggression. An incident like the one that took place on Monday
01:04 that is a Chinese vessel accosting a Taiwan vessel has been flagged as a security concern by the Taiwan authorities.
01:11 It's a way that China can put pressure on Taiwan to accept its claims.
01:15 For now the people here in Jinmen as well as Taiwan's leaders in the capital Taipei will be bracing themselves that this situation does not
01:23 escalate further.
01:24 Karma Xu, Pichi Chuang and Rick Lowatt in Jinmen for Taiwan Plus.
01:28 [BLANK_AUDIO]