The people of Taiwan better open their eyes! The Taiwanese coast guard has announced that it wants to financially reward the reporting of certain “illegal activities” at sea around the island, in particular the presence of Chinese military ships while Beijing maintains its pressure on Taipei.
Concretely, people reporting homicides, acts of piracy, arson and kidnappings will be able to receive a sum of 5,786 euros and 1,446 euros for reporting “stowaways”. In addition, the submission of verified reports to the coast guard concerning foreign and Chinese military vessels will be rewarded with a sum of 87 euros.
To explain these bonuses for denunciation, the coast guards justify themselves on the fact that their coast guard personnel are “limited, but the power of the people at sea is unlimited”. They called on the population, and in particular fishermen, to “remain vigilant in the face of abnormal maritime activities”.
While Beijing, which considers that Taiwan is part of its territory, puts permanent pressure on Tapei by sending Chinese military ships, this additional information must also serve the Taiwan authorities to counter these growing “maritime threats” as well as “all kinds of tactics of harassment” known as gray zone, that is to say hostile but not relating to open warfare. The Taiwanese army reports almost daily the presence of Chinese warships around its waters, as well as sorties of combat planes and drones around the island.
VideoTensions in Taiwan: the island surrounded by Chinese military exercises
In mid-October, the Taiwanese coast guard indicated that it had detected groups of boats of their Chinese counterparts around outlying islands belonging to Taiwan, after Beijing launched military maneuvers mobilizing planes and ships near the island. They then specified that they had arrested a Chinese national after a possible “intrusion” into the Kinmen Islands, located a few kilometers from the Chinese coastal city of Xiamen, in Fujian, but administered by Taipei. Earlier, the island of Taiwan was placed on alert when a Chinese aircraft carrier was spotted in the area.
