Fatal fishing boat crash isn’t first tragedy to test Xi Jinping in Taiwan Strait, but tensions make ties harder to mend

Name: Two mainland Chinese fishermen drown after Taiwan coastguard pursuit
Uploaded: 2024-03-02T22:00:20.000Z
Duration: 2 min 20 s
Description: Two mainland Chinese fishermen drown after Taiwan coastguard pursuit

Clash between Taiwanese coastguard and mainland Chinese fishermen has some similarities with emergency Xi handled 34 years ago

While 1990 agreement between Beijing and Taipei is source of pride for Xi, analysts say lack of trust could make resolution tougher this time

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A speedboat carrying fishermen from mainland China capsizes after being chased by the Taiwanese coastguard near Quemoy on February 14, leaving two dead. Photo: Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration

Amber Wangin Beijing

Published: 6:00am, 3 Mar 2024Updated: 12:09pm, 3 Mar 2024

In 1990, three months into Xi Jinping’s tenure as Communist Party chief of Fuzhou, 25 fishermen from mainland China were found dead of suffocation in a boat off the coast of the southeastern city after they were sent back from Taiwan.

The “Min Ping Yu No 5540 incident”, named after the mainland fishing boat involved, was one of Xi’s earliest encounters with Taiwan affairs and led to the signing of a ground-breaking agreement between the two sides. The deal became a source of pride for Xi, according to officials who worked with him at the time.

Fast forward more than three decades to last month and two more mainland fishermen died while fleeing Taiwan’s coastguard.

The cases have some similarities but this time it could be much more difficult to negotiate a resolution, observers say.

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Two mainland Chinese fishermen drown after Taiwan coastguard pursuit

Both incidents happened amid a lack of communication and trust between the two sides.