Taiwan Coast Guard drives away Chinese sand dredgers from Matsu with massive water cannon
Taiwan News
Date: 2020/10/28
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer
Xinbei. (CGA photo)
As Chinese ships continue to pillage sand from the seabed around Taiwan's outer islands, the CGA recently adopted the new tactic of attempting to drive the offending vessels away with water cannons. On its Facebook page on Tuesday, the CGA announced that a few days ago, its radar systems detected five sand barges and two sand-dredging ships within the 6-kilometer restricted zone around Matsu Island.
The CGA stated that it was able to drive many of the Chinese ships away, with the exception of the sand-dredging ship. A patrol boat from the Matsu branch of the CGA then used a powerful water cannon to "spray it out of the boundary line."
In the video, a CGA patrol boat can be seen pouring water on a Chinese dredger as sirens blare and the captain admonishes the ship's skipper to exit Taiwanese territorial waters immediately, "or it will continue to use the water cannon to enforce the mandatory distance." The patrol boat identifies itself as PP10037 and announces, "This is the first broadcast. You have already entered restricted territorial waters. You cannot remain in these waters, much less anchor. Please leave immediately." [FULL STORY]
