2 fishermen return to mainland China after Taiwanese coastguard pursuit turns deadly
- Mainland Chinese delegation to Quemoy will ‘find out the truth’ in latest incident to fuel cross-strait tensions
- Two other men drowned as their speedboat tried to flee from authorities near Taiwanese outpost, coastguard says
The two other crew members on board the fishing boat at the time drowned during the pursuit in waters off Quemoy – a Taiwan-controlled group of islands also known as Kinmen – on Wednesday.
Before boarding a boat for Quanzhou, Fujian province, the men said they were “happy to be able to return home”.
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Two mainland Chinese fishermen drown after Taiwan coastguard pursuit
Li said the delegation intended to find out what exactly had caused the fatal incident, which has fuelled cross-strait tensions.
The group – which included six bereaved family members, a lawyer, and two Red Cross officials – headed directly to a funeral parlour where the deceased were placed, according to Taiwan’s coastguard administration.
In video clips posted by Taiwanese media outlets on Tuesday, Li slammed the Taiwanese coastguard for what he said was “rough dispersal of the fishing boat” leading to the deaths of two of the crew.
“Such a malicious incident has sparked indignations from various sectors in China and seriously hurt the feelings of compatriots across the strait,” he said, referring to the Taiwan Strait.
“We are here to find out the truth, assist the families with the aftermath affairs and bring home the two survivors.”
He demanded that the island’s authorities address the concerns of the families and provide help to “avoid hurting the families further”.
The coastguard said the fishing boat’s crew refused to allow an inspection and the vessel – a speedboat used for fishing – flipped over as it sped away.
The four men were rushed to hospital after they were pulled from the water. Two of the men died while the other two were in stable condition and were later sent to the Quemoy prosecutor’s office for investigation.
Tsai Mao-cheng, director of the coastguard’s Kinmen, Matsu and Penghu branch, said Taiwanese authorities would offer whatever help the families needed.
“What the relatives most want now is to see the deceased for post-mortem arrangements,” Tsai said when asked if the Taiwanese side would release evidence of how the pursuit turned fatal.
Tsai declined to say if they would discuss the compensation issue.
The relatives later held ritual ceremonies for the deceased before cremating their bodies. They were scheduled to stay overnight and take their remains home on Wednesday morning, according to the coastguard.
Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council, which charts cross-strait policy, said authorities on Tuesday “arranged for the two survivors to be deported in line with the law”, and asked the mainland side to “provide help to facilitate their return home”.
Chinese coastguard boards Taiwan cruise ship after deadly boat incident
Most countries – including the United States, Taipei’s informal ally and top arms supplier – do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state but are opposed to any attempt to forcibly change the status quo.
On Sunday, Beijing announced that its coastguard would begin regular patrols and inspections around Quemoy, adding that there were no restricted waters around the archipelagos.
On Monday, six mainland coastguard officers boarded a Taiwanese tourist boat carrying 11 crew members and 23 passengers to check the vessel’s route plan, certificate and crew licences, prompting the island’s coastguard to send its own vessels to patrol around the waters and escort the tourist boat back to Quemoy.
Taiwanese Defence Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng said on Tuesday that to avoid a further rise in tensions, the military would not “actively intervene” in the incident.
