Earlier, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) confirmed that the fishermen, who sailed from southern Taiwan on a five-day trip to the South China Sea island, would be allowed to step onto the island’s pier to restock the ship.

Before approaching the island, spokesman Luo Chiang-fei stated, “[We] should respect government regulations since we are citizens of the R.O.C. But as a fishing vessel and coming ashore for restocking, I think this falls under the category of humanitarian aid and believe the government will not reject [the request].

The Presidential Office stated it respected the judgment of relevant agencies in determining how it chose to deal with the civilians.

The Ministry of National Defense stated over the weekend that civilians intending to dock at Taiping needed to apply for permission at least 45 days in advance. They also expressed security concerns in the restricted area if Hong Kong-based journalists embedded with the fishermen were allowed on Taiping.

The statement appeared to anger the fishermen, with the embedded reporters writing: “The fishermen were extremely angry upon hearing this, even going as far to say the move was ‘cold-hearted.’”

To prevent the “loss of focus,” the contingent announced that one of the four ships carrying reporters would not dock.

The trip began with five ships, but one ship returned to Taiwan due to technical problems.

The ships are expected to begin their return trip to Taiwan on Tuesday.

According to the Cabinet spokesman Tung Chen-yuan, the four vessels were later met by the coast guard patrol vessel “Taoyuan” at 67 nautical miles outside of the island.

“The government will protect [our] fishermen wherever they are. It has acted continuously with regard to positions on sovereignty, and more importantly, protecting the safety of fishermen. The coast guard will strengthen and lengthen its patrols,” he added.

But Tung also appeared to downplay the highly publicized move of local fishermen to proclaim national sovereignty of the island.

“From the international perspective, the fishermen’s trip to Taiping Island to proclaim sovereignty ‘will not actually increase it,’ Tung said, arguing that the coast guard personnel stationed there were a more significant statement.

“If there were no personnel stationed there or if the government did not make moves to proclaim sovereignty over it, then there might have been a need [to make a trip], but even in that case, the task should fall to the government since civilian acts cannot achieve a declaration on an international level,” he said.

Fishermen 'braver than president': opposition

Opposition Kuomintang caucus leader Lin Te-fu lauded the “brave” actions of the fishermen, as doubts lingered over whether the boats would be allowed to dock after their five-day journey.

“These fishermen have risked so much to defend our sovereignty and our fishing claims, and I believe they are more courageous than our president [and have] gained the people’s respect and esteem,” Lin said prior to an extraordinary legislative session.

Lin also attacked the administration for discouraging the fishermen from carrying out the activist action and described President Tsai Ing-wen’s response to a July 12 Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling on the South China Sea as “numbing” and as making Taiwan a “US vassal state.”

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