Death of 2 Chinese men off Kinmen regrettable: Taiwan agency

Taipei, Feb. 15 (CNA) The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said Thursday it was regrettable that two Chinese men had died the day before when their speedboat capsized during a chase by the Taiwan Coast Guard in waters off the Kinmen Islands.

In a statement, the MAC said it supports the efforts of Taiwan authorities to carry out their duties in accordance with the law.

An initial investigation into Wednesday's fatal incident has indicated that the Taiwan Coast Guard officers were legally performing their duties and had not erred in any way, the MAC said.

It was regrettable that two of the four Chinese men on the boat had died in the accident, the MAC said, adding that China should take effective actions to restrict illegal activities by its nationals in Taiwan waters.

According to the MAC, various Chinese fishing vessels have been intruding recently into Taiwan's restricted or prohibited waters to poach high-priced fish, which has seriously intruded on the rights and interests of Taiwan's fishermen and residents on nearby islands.

Some Chinese fishermen have also been caught using poison and explosives to catch fish in the waters near Taiwan and have been polluting the sea with trash, the MAC said.

Taiwan has repeatedly urged China to conduct better oversight of its people, but those calls have been fruitless, the agency said.

On Thursday, MAC Minister Chiu Tai-san (邱太三) said Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration has reported the details of the fatal accident to Kinmen prosecutors and will inform the Chinese side of the investigation's findings.

The accident occurred 1.1 nautical miles east of Beiding Island in Taiwan's offshore Kinmen County at 1:45 p.m. Wednesday, when a Chinese speedboat with four people onboard was spotted in the area.

As Taiwan Coast Guard vessels approached with the intention of carrying out an inspection, the speedboat tried to flee, and it capsized while zigzagging across the waters.

All four men on the boat fell overboard and were picked up by the Taiwan Coast Guard. Two of them were taken to hospital but were pronounced dead after efforts to resuscitate them failed.

Later on Wednesday, Zhu Fenglian (朱鳳蓮), a spokesperson for China's Taiwan Affairs Office, issued a statement, strongly condemning Taiwan over the death of the two Chinese nationals.

Such "rude and dangerous" actions during the Lunar New Year holiday have hurt the feelings of the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, Zhu said.