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Amber Wang

A Taiwanese sea search-and-rescue group has called on both sides of the Taiwan Strait to work together on maritime rescue drills.
Yin Liu-sheng, secretary general of the Taiwan-based volunteer group Chinese Search and Rescue Association, said in Xiamen, Fujian province, on Sunday that “maritime search and rescue should remain completely above politics” and that Beijing and Taipei should cooperate “to ensure the safety of life and property of vessels navigating the Taiwan Strait”.
“Maritime search-and-rescue operations are time-critical, and both sides should ensure that rescue hotlines remain open at all times, allowing timely communication on maritime emergencies in the Taiwan Strait,” Yin said at an event organised as part of the Straits Forum.
The Taiwan Strait is one of the world’s busiest waterways for both commercial shipping and fishing, and the tough weather and sea conditions have made the strait a high-risk zone for accidents.
Maritime search and rescue had been an area of sustained cooperation between Beijing and Taipei but joint drills stopped in 2016, when the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party took power.


Beijing and Taipei conducted joint search-and-rescue exercises three times between 2010 and 2014 in waters near mainland cities and Taiwan’s outlying islands under a sea transport agreement signed in 2008, which included the “establishment of a search-and-rescue coordination mechanism”.
In 2010, for example, emergency personnel from Taiwan and the mainland held their first jointly planned large-scale maritime and air rescue exercise in waters off Xiamen and the Taiwan-controlled offshore island of Quemoy, also known as Kinmen.
The exercise simulated a collision involving a passenger ship travelling from Xiamen to Taiwan, testing how both sides would communicate rescue signals and coordinate operations.
To avoid political sensitivities, none of the vessels displayed their official flags.
But since 2016, joint drills have stalled, and maritime issues have become a source of tension between the two sides, further hindering joint emergency efforts.
Taipei accused the mainland of “unilaterally” stopping the exercise “due to political factors”. Official communication channels between the two sides have also been suspended since that year, and the tensions have grown.
Earlier this month, mainland maritime law enforcement operations in waters east of Taiwan drew criticism from the self-ruled island’s government.
Beijing said the five-day operation involving maritime agencies and rescue units was a “necessary response” to an announcement by Japan and the Philippines that they would begin negotiations on maritime delimitation in waters east of the island.
Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council, however, condemned Beijing’s activities, saying they amounted to “unwarranted provocations”.


In Xiamen on Sunday, Yin called for both sides to resume maritime rescue cooperation based on the 2008 agreement, urging “steadfast efforts to advance cross-strait cooperation and exchanges in search and rescue”.
He also suggested establishing a “search-and-rescue emergency response mechanism” covering not only the Taiwan Strait but potentially extending to waters such as the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea.
Under the principle of “nearest and most convenient assistance”, he said efforts should be made to minimise casualties, property losses and marine environmental pollution.
The Straits Forum is the mainland’s biggest annual platform for cross-strait people-to-people exchanges and is held in Fujian province.
At the same event on Sunday, Xu Wei, head of the Maritime Safety Administration under the Ministry of Transport, said the Taiwan Strait was a key route for personnel exchanges and cargo flows between the two sides, and that “navigational safety is closely tied to the well-being of people on both sides and broader development interests”.
“We must continuously improve mechanisms for information sharing, law enforcement cooperation and emergency response connectivity across the Taiwan Strait,” he said, adding that efforts should be made to ensure the safe and unimpeded passage of vessels on both sides.


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Joint exercises to protect lives and property in the waters have not been held in a decade


Joint exercises to protect lives and property in the waters have not been held in a decade.


Taiwanese group sends emergency call to revive cross-strait sea rescue drills

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Joint exercises to protect lives and property in the waters have not been held in a decade

Joint exercises to protect lives and property in the waters have not been held in a decade