China Sets Up Fresh Confrontation Near Its Coast

China has laid the groundwork for a flare-up just miles from its shores after its coast guard announced patrols in waters controlled by Taiwan.

Chinese coast guard spokesperson Gan Yu said on Sunday that authorities would “strengthen maritime law enforcement” between the Chinese port city of Xiamen and Kinmen, a Taiwanese archipelago just six miles from China’s coast, administered by Taipei as an outlying county.

The announcement came after two Chinese fishermen died and two others were injured on February 14 when their speedboat capsized in waters near Kinmen while being pursued by Taiwanese authorities for alleged trespassing. Beijing condemned Taipei for using excessive force in what it called a “vicious incident.”

The China Coast Guard said maritime police in Fujian province, which administers Xiamen and claims authority over Kinmen, would ramp up patrols to “maintain operational order in the relevant waters and safeguard the lives and property of fishermen.”

Taiwan’s China policy-making Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), which said the Chinese speedboat refused an inspection in Taiwanese waters, responded on Sunday by expressing regret over Beijing’s interpretation of the incident. It cautioned against crossing maritime boundaries that had been part of an established norm for at least three decades.

Since the introduction of a law that defined “restricted” and “prohibited” waters around Kinmen in 1992, authorities on both sides of the Taiwan Strait have respected its provisions and cooperated under them, the MAC said. Vessels from the mainland are not allowed to enter the waters without permission, its statement said.

A day earlier, the MAC’s Chinese equivalent, the Taiwan Affairs Office in Beijing, denied the existence of restricted or prohibited waters around Kinmen. TAO spokesperson Zhu Fenglian described the area as “traditional fishing grounds” for fisherfolk on both sides of the strait.

In separate remarks carried by Chinese state media on Sunday, Zhu backed the coast guard’s decision to ramp up patrols in the waters.

In recent years, China’s maritime police force has also been used to pressure neighbors including U.S. treaty ally the Philippines over their territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

The TAO could not be reached for comment.

Policy experts in Taipei told the island’s semi-official Central News Agency that Beijing’s pronouncement was an attempt to change the longstanding status quo in the 100-mile strait separating the two Cold War foes.

China claims Taiwan as its own, but the long-ruling Communist Party in Beijing has never governed there since seizing power in 1949. Taipei, which administers Taiwan proper as well as a number of outlying island territories, rejects the Chinese government’s sovereignty claims.

Potential intrusions into waters around Kinmen—one of two islands where U.S. Army Special Forces are said to be training Taiwanese troops—would add to other worrying signs for Taipei, including Beijing’s now years-long warplane flights in Taiwan’s surrounding airspace.

Taiwan has established protocols for handling overt intrusions into its territorial sea and airspace, but they have rarely been tested. Taipei’s Central News Agency said four Chinese coast guard ships were detected off Xiamen on Monday, but none had been reported entering Kinmen’s waters.

The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to Newsweek‘s written request for comment.