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Taipei, Feb 29 (EFE).- Taiwan’s coast guard said Thursday it would not apologize for the death of two Chinese fishermen in the vicinity of the Kinmen Islands, adding that they acted lawfully during the pursuit of the boat in which the victims were traveling.
“The Coast Guard performs its duties in accordance with the law. According to the objective evidence of the current investigation, Coast Guard personnel are not responsible and, therefore, there is no written apology plan,” Liao Yun-hung, the Coast Guard’s patrol section leader said at a press conference.
These statements come a day after Beijing asked Taipei for explanations for the incident on Feb. 14, in which two of the four crew members of a boat from China died after a chase by the Taiwan Coast Guard in waters near the Kinmen Islands.
“Since the incident occurred, the authorities of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party have not apologized,” China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian said Wednesday, adding that Taiwan had “lied” and “hidden the truth” about this case.
Lin Tze-luen, Taiwan’s government spokesman, said island authorities are helping the families of victims, and added that the judicial investigation continues.
The death of these fishermen has caused an increase in tension around the Kinmen Islands, an archipelago a few kilometers from the southeastern Chinese city of Xiamen where more than 100,000 Taiwanese people live.
The Kinmen Islands have been the subject of multiple disputes between China and Taiwan over the decades, among which the massive bombing of 1958 stood out, when the Chinese army opened fire on the archipelago in the context of the second Taiwan Strait crisis. EFE
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