Chinese civil aviation authorities are building a new civilian airport on Dadeng Island, less than 10 kilometers from Taiwan‘s Kinmen Island. On Taiwan’s island, people watch uneasily as Chinese ships dredge sand in waters so close to Taiwan.
This is what Shi Zhaomin, chairman of the ruling Kuomintang in Kinmen County, has seen in recent years.
Taiwan’s central government has also taken notice. It says mainland vessels are illegally dredging sand and gravel in waters near Taiwan’s territory. Many mainland sand dredgers are present near Kinmen and Matsu because of their proximity to China.
Shi Zhaomin said, “They often go to the sea to dredge sand and gravel because of the need for the project, and this has a considerable impact on us.” He said, “We are watching the matter closely. There should be a channel that both sides can use to communicate.”
Chinese military aircraft enter Taiwan’s air defense identification zone daily, and aircraft carriers regularly pass nearby. China has not abandoned its threat to use force to reunify Taiwan if necessary.
Chen Yifan, an assistant professor of diplomacy and international relations at Taiwan’s Tamkang University, said mainland China’s sand dredging has been going on in Taiwan’s waters for about a decade, and it has damaged the marine ecology.
In the first 10 months of 2020, Taiwan’s Coast Guard sent vessels to disperse about 4,000 mainland sand dredgers, according to Taiwan’s official media Central News Agency. Taiwan’s Land Commission told the Voice of America on Monday (Feb. 1) that the number has increased over the past few years as illegal sand dredging activities have intensified.
Chen Yifan said the Coast Guard can’t stop the growth in the number of Chinese sand dredging vessels.
Shi Zhaomin believes that sand dredging is repeatedly prohibited in part because Chinese vessels start digging from the high seas. Sometimes they dredge for gravel in waters where mainland China and Taiwan claim overlapping sovereignty, Chen said. That area is 6 kilometers from Kinmen and Matsu, instead of the usual 12 nautical miles (22.2 kilometers).
Chen Yifan said, “These gray zone operations are likely to continue, just as the Chinese air force regularly intrudes into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone.” China does not recognize Taiwan’s air defense identification zone.
He added that there is a “very strong political context” for dredging offshore gravel in waters over which Taiwan claims sovereignty.
Sun Yun, a fellow in the Stimson Center’s East Asia Program, said China could move sand dredgers out of Taiwan waters if political relations improve.
Cross-Strait relations have been on the decline since 2016. Since Tsai Ing-wen was elected president of Taiwan in 2016, the Chinese government has canceled official dialogue with Taiwan because Tsai has refused to acknowledge that it belongs to China as a precondition for negotiations. Sun Yun said China now “prefers to take a tougher stance rather than a more subtle one.
She said, “At least we can see very clearly that the Chinese authorities are not even trying to block Taiwan’s position or not trying to put a cap on it, so I think that’s a political message in itself.”
Taiwan’s legislature passed a law last December that raised the penalty for illegal sand mining in coastal waters to one to seven years in prison and fines of up to $3.5 million.
The previous penalty was a $1.8 million fine and five years in prison.
In an email, Taiwan’s Land Commission said, “We hope the government will show its determination to enforce the law by increasing the penalties.”
China passed a maritime police law on Jan. 22. the law, which took effect Feb. 1, authorizes the Chinese maritime police to use force against vessels that enter waters under Chinese jurisdiction to illegally engage in production operations after warnings are ineffective. Scholars say the move gives Beijing more power over five governments that dispute China’s claim to 3.5 million square kilometers of the South China Sea. The South China Sea is southwest of Taiwan. Chen Yifan said the law means Chinese maritime police vessels can protect sand dredgers against any threat.
Part of Xiamen Xiangan Airport, immediately adjacent to Kinmen, is due to be completed in 2024. The airport is designed to reach an annual passenger capacity of 45 million by 2025.
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