Taipei, May 28: Taiwanese authorities were alerted to what they claim were two Chinese "Spy Ships" operating near the island as Taiwan`s military was conducting exercises, officials said today. The Navy told a news agency that a 3,000-tonne Chinese naval ice-breaking ship "Hai Bin Azb723" was detected some 45 nautical miles southwest of Taiwan at 2:00 PM (1130 IST) Sunday. The navy and the coast guard administration scrambled to send respectively a Lafayette-class frigate and a patrol boat to keep watch on the armed Chinese vessel, which sailed around there until yesterday. Separately, the coast guard said it was also watching another Chinese surveillance ship, "Xiangyanghong 9", sailing off the northeast coast of Taiwan. "Obviously they were there to collect our military- related information particularly when some programs of the Han Kuang exercise were being held in the two areas," Kang Ning-Hsiang, secretary-general to the National Security Council, told reporters.


Kang did not provide details about the largest annual drills, but the widely circulated china times said the operations of the two Chinese ships came as the Taiwanese military were conducting anti-submarine and live-fire missile exercises in the areas.


The Taiwanese kept a close but cautious eye on the ships, fearing an unexpected clash could lead to military conflict between Taiwan and China, which have been foes since their split in 1949 at the end of a civil war.

Bureau Report