![]() Taiwanese military officials and Western analysts say China’s gray-zone tactics are meant to drain the resources and erode the will of the island’s armed forces - and make such harassment so routine that the world grows inured to it. Taiwan has been scrambling military aircraft on an almost daily basis to head off the threat, placing an onerous burden on its air force. The most dramatic: In recent months, the People’s Liberation Army, China’s military, has been dispatching warplanes in menacing forays toward the island. China, which claims democratically-governed Taiwan as its own territory, has been using other irregular tactics to wear down the island of 23 million. Sand is just part of the gray-zone campaign. “You dredge for sand on the one hand, but if you can also put pressure on Taiwan, then that’s great, too.” The dredging is a “gray-zone strategy with Chinese characteristics,” said Su Tzu-yun, an associate research fellow at Taiwan’s top military think tank, the Institute for National Defense and Security Research. In Matsu, there were also many Chinese vessels that sailed close to Taiwanese waters without actually entering, forcing the coast guard to be on constant alert. That’s a 560% jump over the 600 Chinese vessels that were repelled in all of 2019. Last year, Taiwan expelled nearly 4,000 Chinese sand-dredgers and sand-transporting vessels from waters under its control, most of them in the area close to the median line, according to Taiwan’s coast guard. To see the interactive version of this story open this link: tmsnrt.rs/39OYbAZīesides Matsu, where 13,300 people live, the coast guard says China has also been dredging in the shallow waters near the median line of the Taiwan Strait, which has long served as an unofficial buffer separating China and Taiwan. Local officials also fear that the dredging is destroying marine life nearby. Taiwanese officials and Matsu residents say the dredging forays have had other corrosive impacts - disrupting the local economy, damaging undersea communication cables and intimidating residents and tourists to the islands. The ploy is taxing for Taiwan’s civilian-run Coast Guard Administration, which is now conducting round-the-clock patrols in an effort to repel the Chinese vessels. Since June last year, Chinese dredgers have been swarming around the Matsu Islands, dropping anchor and scooping up vast amounts of sand from the ocean bed for construction projects in China. The sand-dredging is one weapon China is using against Taiwan in a campaign of so-called gray-zone warfare, which entails using irregular tactics to exhaust a foe without actually resorting to open combat. “They usually leave after we drive them away, but they come back again after we go away.” “They think this area is part of China’s territory,” said Lin, referring to Chinese dredgers that have been intruding into Matsu’s waters. Upon spotting Lin’s boat, armed with two water cannons and a machine gun, the dredgers quickly pulled up anchor and headed back toward the Chinese coast. Parked just outside Taiwan’s waters, neither of the dredgers clearly displayed their names, making it difficult for a crew member to identify them as he peered through binoculars. Half an hour into the patrol, Lin’s nine-man crew spotted two 3,000-ton dredgers, dwarfing their 100-ton vessel. The Chinese goal, Taiwanese officials say: pressure Taiwan by tying down the island democracy’s naval defenses and undermining the livelihoods of Matsu residents. He was on the lookout for Chinese sand-dredging ships encroaching on waters controlled by Taiwan. A few kilometers away, the Chinese coast was faintly visible from Lin’s boat. On a chilly morning in late January, Lin, clad in an orange uniform, stood on the rolling deck of his boat as it patrolled in choppy waters off the Taiwan-run Matsu Islands. Pretty good drink and beer selection too.A sand-dredging ship with a Chinese flag is seen in the waters off the Taiwan-controlled Matsu islands, January 28, 2021. Very quiet, rustic and clean! Seemed like quite a few local retirees were there dining.good sign! The staff were attentive, not over bearing with silly antics that you might expect in a tourist town.which was a relief. They actually had wild caught salmon-not the "fake" farm raised stuff most other restaurants in CO try to pawn off on customers. Sister ordered the wild salmon and loved it. We were pleasantly surprised! To start, I know a good steak when I see one and they did a really nice job on the ribeye and the beef filet. This week our "usual" dining favs in Breck were booked (we had a large group) so we thought we would give the Dredge a try. We were also skeptical of a restaurant on a mining dredge thinking the place was a bit hokey. Many of the reviews we read were mixed and the place never appeared busy. We have been going to Breckenridge for 20 years and never tried The Dredge until this trip. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |