TAIPEI: Taiwan called on Beijing on Thursday (Feb 15) to restrain its citizens from illegal fishing in the waters around the self-ruled island, defending its coast guard over the pursuit of a boat that led to the deaths of two Chinese nationals.
The boat was carrying four people when it capsized near the Kinmen islands – a territory administered by Taiwan but located just 5km from China’s Xiamen.
All four people were thrown into the water, and two of the crew later died, according to Taiwan’s coast guard.
China – which claims Taiwan as part of its territory – condemned the democratically ruled island for the incident Wednesday, saying it “severely harmed the feelings of compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait”.
But Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration said the speedboat was “0.86 nautical miles within prohibited waters”, and that after the capsizing, its personnel had immediately conducted search-and-rescue operations.
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) – Taiwan’s official body dealing with China affairs – defended the coast guard Thursday, saying their procedure was “not improper”.
MAC also placed the blame across the strait, saying that in recent years, Taiwanese authorities have seen Chinese people crossing the border and engaging in “sand-dredging, fishing with explosives and poisons, and discarding garbage”.
“Despite our calls to strengthen governance, there has been no improvement,” it said.
“Recently many Chinese fishing boats have continued to enter our restricted or prohibited waters, taking advantage of the Lunar New Year to catch high-value fish,” it added, referring to a holiday period for both Taiwan and China.
“We deeply regret that the Chinese crew refused to cooperate with our law enforcement work and this unfortunate incident occurred,” it said.
“We also hope the mainland authorities can restrain similar behaviours of the people on the other side.”