The tone rose again on Wednesday between China and Taiwan following an incident at sea involving a Taiwanese coast guard vessel during which two Chinese fishermen died, with Beijing accusing Taipei on Wednesday of wanting to “
hide the truth”
.
The elected Taiwanese president, Lai Ching-te, at the same time defended
“the strict application of the law”
by the agents responsible for monitoring the coasts, while hoping to avoid the recurrence of a
“similar situation”
to that which occurred. prevailed on February 14.
That day, a Chinese fishing boat capsized after being chased by the Taiwanese coast guard for what they said had entered the waters of Kinmen, a small archipelago administered by Taipei but located just five kilometers from the city of Xiamen, in the Chinese province of Fujian.
The members of its crew then fell into the water: two lost their lives and the other two, rescued, were detained before being able to return to mainland China on Wednesday while relatives of their dead companions went to Kinmen.
Prevent this from “happening again”
“For various reasons, the Taiwanese authorities seek to evade their responsibilities and conceal the truth about the incident
,” Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office, said in a statement released by Beijing.
“We solemnly ask the parties concerned in Taiwan to communicate the reality of the facts as soon as possible
,” she said in a statement.
The Taiwanese government, for its part, assured that the coast guard had done nothing reprehensible.
Lai Ching-te
“supports the strict enforcement of the law by the coast guard (and hopes) that in the future ways will be studied to prevent a similar situation from happening again”
, explained to the press on Wednesday Wu Cheng, spokesperson for Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
He added that the head of state elected in January, considered by the Chinese authorities as a
“separatist”
, and the DPP hoped that the consequences of the incident which occurred in a context of increased tensions between Beijing and Taipei, could be
“properly managed”
.
Kinmen prosecutors, for their part, said Wednesday that they
“expressed no objection to law enforcement procedures”
at the time of the tragedy.
Taiwan previously defended its actions by saying the Chinese fishing boat was in prohibited waters, while China pledged to step up
"law enforcement patrol operations"
in the area and its guards -coasts briefly boarded a Taiwanese tourist ship on Monday.
Acts “borrowing with inhumanity and indifference”
One of the two survivors assured Chinese state media that their boat had been hit by the Taiwanese vessel.
“We strongly condemn the Taiwanese side's brutality towards mainland fishermen.
We strongly condemn the malice of the Taiwanese side
,” responded spokesperson Zhu Fenglian.
“We also express our strong indignation at the words and actions marked by inhumanity and indifference on the part of the Taiwanese side since the incident
,” she said.
For China, Taiwan is one of its provinces, which it has not yet managed to reunify with the rest of its territory since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949. Relations between Beijing and Taipei have been tense since 2016 and the election of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, also from the Democratic Progressive Party, favorable to independence.