Taiwan dismisses China complaint about collision of navy ship, trawler

28/3/2025 14:53

Taiwan's defence minister dismissed on Friday China's complaints about a collision between a Taiwan navy ship and a Chinese trawler in the sensitive Taiwan Strait, vowing that Taipei would carry on military exercises undeterred.



China's Taiwan Affairs Office condemned the actions of the Taiwanese landing ship as "wicked" following Thursday's collision off Taiwan's central city of Taichung. Taiwan, however, said it did not take place in "restricted" waters.



"The Taiwan Affairs Office always says things like this," Taiwan Defence Minister Wellington Koo told reporters on the sidelines of parliament. "I can only say that we will carry out the drills we should be carrying out."



Asked if the Chinese fishing boat was spying on the activities of Taiwan's navy, Koo said it was "not really possible" for such a vessel to get any kind of detailed information on military activity.



China said it is also investigating the collision, which happened on the Taiwan side of the Strait's median line which used to unofficially demarcate the two sides' air and maritime border, but which Beijing says it does not recognise.



Taiwan's coast guard is leading an investigation into what happened, Koo said of the incident, in which there were no casualties, declining to speculate on the reason or where to attribute blame.