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US Watches “Closely” After China Seizes Taiwanese Fishing Boat The White House said on July 3 it was monitoring an incident in the South China Sea where Chinese officials reportedly boarded and then seized a Taiwanese fishing boat operating near China's coast close to a Taiwan-controlled island late July 2.China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and has ramped up pressure on Taipei since May when President Lai Ching-te took office, a man Beijing accuses of being a "separatist."The squid fishing boat was near the Taiwan-administered Kinmen islands, which sit next to the Chinese cities of Xiamen and Quanzhou, but in Chinese waters on Tuesday night when it was boarded and seized by two Chinese maritime administration boats, Taiwan's coast guard said.The Taiwanese boat was operating during China's no-fishing period, the coast guard said, adding Taiwan will communicate with China and urge them to release the fishermen as soon as possible.