China Squeezes Taiwan by Targeting Islands and Fishing Sites

  • Beijing has detained fishermen, sailed into sensitive zones
  • China adding to ways it is pressuring president it distrusts
Taiwan’s military monitors a Chinese vessel as the People’s Liberation Army holds drills on May 23.Source: Taiwan’s Military News Agency/Anadolu/Getty Images
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Taiwanese fisherman Chen Zhi-rong says that for decades it was common to sail in waters that skirted the Chinese coastline. Since Beijing seized a boat and its crew for the first time in 17 years for violating a fishing ban — and continues to detain them — all that has changed.

The Chinese Coast Guard is now “constantly” patrolling east of the median line in the Taiwan strait, said Chen, referring to the US-drawn boundary that had for decades served as an unofficial barrier between the two sides.