Taiwan, China officials to discuss speedboat incident Wednesday

Taipei, July 23 (CNA) Officials from Taiwan and China will meet to discuss the Kinmen speedboat incident, which left two Chinese nationals dead on Feb. 14, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) announced Tuesday.

Both sides have agreed to further discussions on outstanding issues after the incident, with a meeting scheduled for Wednesday at the Golden Lake Hotel in outlying Kinmen County, the MAC said in a statement.

"We look forward to completing related follow-up work as soon as possible," the statement read. However, it did not mention the names or levels of the individuals who will attend the meeting.

The MAC statement came hours after local media reported earlier Tuesday that a breakthrough regarding the incident has been achieved.

Representatives from the MAC and the Chinese authorities will meet in Kinmen on Wednesday to sign a consensus agreement in which Taiwan's authorities will return the bodies of the two Chinese nationals who died in the incident, as well as the speedboat, to the Chinese side, local media reported.

The incident occurred on Feb. 14 when Taiwan's Coast Guard pursued a Chinese speedboat that entered prohibited waters off the coast of Kinmen.

According to Taiwan's Coast Guard, the unnamed and unregistered Chinese boat refused a request to board and inspect the boat, and later fled, setting off a high-speed chase which ended when the vessel made a sudden turn.

The speedboat collided with a CGA patrol vessel and capsized in waters near Kinmen while being pursued, leading to the deaths of two Chinese crew members.

The other two Chinese nationals who survived the incident were returned to China on Feb. 20, while the bodies of the deceased crew and the speedboat were kept in Kinmen for further investigation.

The incident raised tensions around Kinmen, which is located less than 10 kilometers off the coast of the Chinese city of Xiamen.

Officials representing the two sides held several rounds of talks before the meeting on Wednesday, but failed to come reach an agreement.