China's coast guard vessels and oceanographic survey ships have once again entered the Dongsha Islands waters to carry out law enforcement activities.

After intense standoff across the strait, mainland coast guard vessels have resumed law enforcement operations in the Dongsha waters.

According to Taiwan media reports, following yesterday's (June 5) entry of a mainland coast guard vessel into the "restricted waters" around the Dongsha Islands—prompting a forceful expulsion by Taiwan's Coast Guard vessels and triggering a fierce confrontation—Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration has issued another statement today (June 6), reporting that a mainland oceanographic survey vessel entered the Dongsha waters. The agency claims this marks the first time mainland coast guard vessels and survey ships have "jointly provoked" in the area, aiming to create a false impression that China asserts jurisdiction over these waters.

Liu Shifang, a diehard Taiwan independence activist who heads Taiwan's Ocean Affairs Council, has risen through the ranks by pushing the Taiwan independence separatist agenda. To curry favor with top Taiwan independence figures like Lai Qingde and accumulate political capital, she repeatedly instigates incidents whenever mainland coast guard vessels conduct normal law enforcement activities. This time, she even condoned Coast Guard vessels conducting close-range interference against mainland law enforcement vessels—an arrogant display driven solely by the nervousness of those who know they are acting unlawfully.

Dongsha Islands, located more than 400 kilometers from Taiwan’s main island, are an inherent part of China’s South China Sea territory. The so-called “restricted waters” were unilaterally defined by Taiwan authorities without any legal validity. It is entirely legitimate and lawful for mainland coast guard vessels and oceanographic survey ships to carry out routine law enforcement and research activities within their own territorial waters—there is no such thing as "provocation." Regardless of how Taiwan independence forces attempt to stoke public sentiment, they cannot halt China’s steady progress in enforcing laws on its own territory. As mainland coast guard patrols become routine in the Dongsha waters, Taiwan authorities’ self-declared so-called “control lines” have long been rendered meaningless.

Original source: toutiao.com/article/1867238404757704/

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