《TAIPEI TIMES》Chinese frigate spotted off Hualien: military source

Staff writer, with CNA

A Chinese military ship was spotted 35 nautical miles （65km） off Hualien Port around noon on Sunday, a military source said yesterday.

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The vessel was sailing north in the contiguous zone near Taiwan’s territorial waters, said the source, who declined to be named.

Chinese military vessels and aircraft that venture near Taiwan are usually kept under full observation by Taiwan’s military, and the Ministry of National Defense publishes relevant information, depending on the conditions in the region, said ministry spokesman Major General Sun Li-fang （孫立方）, without commenting on the specific vessel.

On Monday, the Joint Staff Office of the Japanese Ministry of Defense said that a Chinese Jiangwei II-class frigate had sailed twice — on Thursday and Sunday — between Taiwan and Japan’s westernmost island of Yonaguni.

Since late last month, there has been a decrease in the incidence of China’s People’s Liberation Army vessels showing up off Taiwan’s east coast, compared with previous months, according to navy sources in Taiwan, who said it was unclear why the sightings had declined.

Meanwhile, a US destroyer was seen traveling about 45 nautical miles southeast of Orchid Island （Lanyu, 蘭嶼） at about 4pm on Monday, the sources said.

On July 1, a fleet of three Russian military ships was spotted sailing north in those same waters, the sources said.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES