HONG KONG/TAIPEI, Sept 3 (Reuters) – China’s Ministry of Natural Resources conducted a survey of waters east of Taiwan last month that it said would help it create “one map” for territorial planning and resource management, state broadcaster CCTV said on Thursday.
Taiwan’s coast guard said on August 21 that it had warned off and shadowed a Chinese research ship sailing in sensitive waters near the island, the third time the vessel had appeared since May in what Taipei sees as ongoing maritime provocation.
The survey, conducted August 10 to 31, aimed to understand the basic geology and structural characteristics of the seabed in China’s jurisdictional sea areas, CCTV said citing the ministry.
China’s coast guard also said that it conducted routine law enforcement patrols in the waters east of Taiwan on Thursday. It is the third such patrol since June.
Taiwan monitored the Chinese operation and defended its sovereignty, its coast guard said in a statement that emphasised China had no jurisdiction over its surrounding waters.
The coast guard also strongly condemned China’s actions that “sought to harass” Taiwan through maritime activities while “maliciously engaging in political manipulation”, referring to China’s claims on the island and its maritime activities in the area.
China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and recognises no claims of sovereignty by the government in Taipei, including in the waters around the island. Taipei rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims.
(Reporting by the Beijing newsroom and Ben Blanchard in Taipei; Writing by Farah Master; Editing by Edwina Gibbs and Stephen Coates)
