Taiwan drove away close to 4,000 mainland Chinese vessels operating illegally near its shores last year, seriously eroding the island’s naval resources, according to a recent report from Taiwan’s coast guard.

The Coast Guard Administration reported that Taiwanese ships drove away 3,422 mainland dredging ships from the waters close to the Penghu islands last year. Similarly, 554 such ships were driven away from the waters close to the Matsu islands.

The Coast Guard Administration called the situation quite serious.

Senior officials from the Ministry of Defense said the illegal incursions by mainland ships are consuming Taiwan’s marine resources and affecting the island’s maritime security. They described the situation as a “war of attrition” that is expanding.

The Coast Guard Administration said dredging has seriously damaged the ecology of Taiwan’s beaches, which cover some 10,000 square kilometers and are rich in sand resources.

Meanwhile, the Philippines has expressed “grave concern” over what it calls an increasing number of Chinese boats near the Scarborough Shoal in the disputed South China Sea.

“The presence of many ships other than coast guard in the area is a cause of grave concern,” Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said, according to a Reuters report.

Meanwhile, the new head of Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council, Chiu Tai-san, slammed the mainland’s repeated military incursions into Taiwan’s airspace. He suggested that the two sides should work together to create business opportunities rather than the mainland sending aircraft to harass Taiwan.

In a report to the Legislative Yuan on Monday, Chiu said these hostile military activities hinder favorable interactions between the two sides and challenge Taiwan’s democratic system and core values.

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen said in January that radar stations had detected close to 2,000 mainland Chinese military planes and over 400 warships within their range last year.

Click here for Chinese version

Click here for Chinese version

---------------------------------

Apple Daily’s all-new English Edition is now available on the mobile app: bit.ly/2yMMfQE

To download the latest version,

iOS: bit.ly/AD_iOS

Android: bit.ly/AD_android

Or search Appledaily in App Store or Google Play