China and Taiwan launch joint rescue bid after boat capsizes near sensitive islands

Taiwan dispatched coast guard boats to join a rescue mission at China’s request after a fishing vessel capsized near the Taiwan-controlled Kinmen islands.

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan dispatched coast guard boats on Thursday to join a rescue mission at China’s request after a fishing vessel capsized near the Taiwan-controlled Kinmen islands, amid heightened tension in the sensitive Taiwan Strait.

China claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, over the island’s strong objections, and has stepped up military activities near it in recent years, with almost daily incursions into air defense identification zones.

Authorities on both sides sent the rescue boats after a Chinese fishing vessel capsized in the early hours, Taiwan’s coast guard said in a statement, adding that two people were missing, though two had been rescued and two bodies retrieved.

Coast guard chief Chou Mei-wu told a parliamentary committee the boats were sent after Chinese authorities sought help, adding that such requests were common, with 119 people rescued in such efforts over the past three years or so.

The Taiwanese Coast Guard joined a rescue mission Thursday after a Chinese fishing boat capsized near the Taiwan-controlled Kinmen islands.Taiwan Coast Guard / via Reuters“The waters are narrow around the Kinmen-Xiamen (area) and co-operation between Taiwan and China is very important,” he said, referring to the neighbors’ cities that face each other across the strait.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/china-taiwan-joint-rescue-kinmen-rcna143333

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