4 Chinese coast guard vessels enter prohibited waters off Kinmen

Kaohsiung, March 15 (CNA) Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration (CGA) on Friday expelled four Chinese Coast Guard patrol vessels that entered prohibited waters off Taiwan-controlled Kinmen off-limits to Chinese vessels.

Taiwanese coast guard patrol vessels shadowed the Chinese ships, detected at 2:46 p.m., and broadcast warnings until they left Kinmen's prohibited and restricted waters, according to a CGA statement.

In a statement, the China Coast Guard said the ships were "legally" patrolling waters off Kinmen.

According to the CGA, the Chinese vessels were in waters 3 to 3.2 nautical miles south of Kinmen Island.

After detecting the intruders, the CGA instructed the Kinmen coast guard patrol to dispatch ships to the area to deal with the situation, while other CGA ships were carrying out a rescue mission in concert with the Chinese coast guard in waters off Dongding Island after a Chinese fishing boat with a six-man crew capsized on Thursday.

The accident caused two deaths, while two crew members were rescued and two are still unaccounted for.