After months of negotiations, Taiwan and China have “agreed” on how to deal with the issue Two Chinese fishermen die Taipei said the Taiwan Coast Guard conducted a maritime pursuit.
The settlement reportedly includes compensation to the families of the victims and the repatriation of their remains to China. Taiwan’s coast guard declined to disclose details.
The agreement is likely to ease tensions in the sensitive Taiwan Strait, which Beijing claims sovereignty over.
China in February condemned the incident as “malicious” and began regular patrols around Taiwan’s Kinmen Islands following the incident.
The Beijing Coast Guard said in February that the purpose of regular patrols is to “maintain the order of operations in the sea area and protect the safety of fishermen’s lives and property.”
On February 14, a fishing boat broke into Taiwanese waters near Kinmen and refused inspection. There were four people on board, two of whom died.
As Taiwanese authorities pursued them, the boat capsized and two fishermen drowned while trying to escape.
Beijing and Taipei have been more flexible with each other’s fishing fleets in the past, especially around Taiwan’s offshore islands very close to the Chinese coast. Kinmen – Taiwan’s northernmost archipelago – is only 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) from China.
But Taiwan has been enforcing stricter enforcement of its own waters in recent years – in response to a sharp increase in poaching by fishermen in China’s coastal Fujian province.
Kinmen residents have reported an increase in the number of Chinese dredgers spotted in their vicinity.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office has urged Taiwanese authorities for months to investigate the incident and provide assistance to the families of the victims. It also accused self-ruled Taiwan of “using various pretexts to forcibly seize Chinese fishing vessels”.
Taiwan defended its coast guard’s actions and called on Beijing to “restrict similar actions” in its waters.
On Tuesday, Taiwan Coast Guard Administrator Zhang Songlong apologized to the families of the victims “for the pain they have suffered.” [they have] Endure” and “No evidence has been recorded in this case”.
Xie Qinqin, deputy director of the Coast Guard, said that both sides “will actively implement the consensus reached as soon as possible.”
“We respect the family and the content of the consensus, so we cannot provide more details,” Mr. Xie added.
A spokesman for the Mainland Affairs Council revealed that the compensation would be paid by private donors, but stressed that it would not affect the investigation results of the incident and those responsible.
Beijing said it hoped Taiwan would “actively implement the terms of the agreement to give the victims peace of mind and provide an explanation to their families.”
