Seizure of Taiwanese Fishing Boat Could Be Tactic by Beijing: Intelligence Chief

Communist China’s recent seizure of a Taiwanese fishing boat may have been a been a geopolitical tactic, with the intention to put pressure on the Taiwan government, according to the island’s intelligence chief. Chinese coast guard vessels boarded and seized a Taiwan fishing ship that was in Chinese waters about 17.5 nautical miles off the Taiwan-controlled offshore islands of Kinmen on July 3. The fishing ship, along with its crew of two Taiwanese nationals and three Indonesian immigrant workers, was subsequently forced to a port in China. Tsai Ming-yen, director-general of Taiwan’s National Security Bureau, said it remains to be seen what the real motivation is behind the Chinese Communist Party’s seizing of the Taiwanese boat. But he offered some possibilities to reporters in parliament on July 4 as to what factors may be driving the incident....