TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Two Taiwan cabinet ministers visited the disputed Dongsha Islands in the South China Sea, reports said on Wednesday (Sept. 13).

Interior Minister Lin Yu-chang (林右昌) and Ocean Affairs Council (OAC) Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) landed on the islands to visit local Coast Guard Administration (CGA) and national park staff tending to the Dongsha Atoll National Park, per CNA. China also claims the islands, though they have been controlled by Taiwan since 1946.

During their visit, the ministers witnessed the CGA’s Wei Hsing patrol boat chasing four Chinese fishing trawlers 13 nautical miles north of Dongsha, Kuan wrote on her Facebook page. The main task of the CGA, which falls under the jurisdiction of the OAC, is to protect Taiwan's territory and its fishers.

Both ministers expressed their sympathy and support for the CGA and national park staff working on the remote islands, about 440 kilometers southwest of Kaohsiung City.