Coast Guard officers involved in Kinmen capsizing incident not charged

Taipei, Aug. 16 (CNA) Kinmen prosecutors have decided not to indict two Coast Guard Administration (CGA) officers in connection with the deaths of two Chinese nationals in a capsizing incident in February due to insufficient evidence.

The unnamed and unregistered Chinese boat with four people on board was spotted in Taiwanese waters near the Taiwan-controlled Kinmen Islands on Feb. 14 by a CGA patrol vessel, which asked to board and inspect the Chinese ship.

It refused and later fled, setting off a high-speed chase that ended when the vessel made a sudden turn, collided with the CGA patrol boat, and capsized, leading to the deaths of two of the Chinese crew members.

Following the incident, two of the four Taiwanese on the patrol board -- the captain, surnamed Huang (黃), and the pilot, surnamed Tsai (蔡) -- were put under investigation for alleged negligent homicide.

But the Kinmen District Prosecutors Office said in a statement Friday that it had decided not to indict either Huang or Tsai on any charge.

The other two members of the Coast Guard on the patrol boat at the time were not under investigation because prosecutors felt the two had no say in the movements of the vessel.

In defending its decision, the office said the pursuit occurred within Taiwanese waters, where the speedboat had no right to be without permission, and the CGA officers acted according to established rules.

Also, the collision did not exceed legal risk limits, the office said, as a forensic analysis found that the damage on the port side of the Chinese boat, caused by friction and compression, did not indicate deliberate or severe damage.

The finding was supported by the accounts of the surviving Chinese fishermen, who, in February after the incident occurred, described their speedboat as an unlicensed "black boat."

The survivors, who did not believe the boat capsized due to the collision, added that the deceased Chinese pilot, surnamed Yu (于), did not have a license before acquiring the boat in January and had operated it fewer than 10 times since then.

In addition, experts concluded in a report on the incident issued earlier this year that the boat had not passed a seaworthiness inspection or been registered, making it an unsafe vessel prone to water ingress and instability when tilted.

Though Kinmen prosecutors felt there was no evidence to support an indictment of Huang and Tsai for the collision, that decision did not mean that the Coast Guard's performance was flawless.

CGA Director-General Chang Chung-lung (張忠龍) apologized on July 30, for example, because the four Coast Guard people were not carrying cameras during their mission.

On Friday, Ocean Affairs Council (OAC) chief Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) announced on Facebook that the CGA, which is under the OAC, will equip each of its staff members with a camera for use starting Aug. 22.

Additionally, the CGA has begun installing surveillance systems on the hulls of its boats, with completion expected by the end of December, Kuan added.

"We will do our best to prevent similar incidents from happening again," she said.

The lack of cameras made it nearly impossible to get an accurate picture of what actually happened and what sparked the collision soon after the incident occurred.

As for the deceased, the CGA has reached an agreement with their families and will implement it soon, said CGA Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-Chin (謝慶欽) on July 30.

It has not disclosed the details "out of respect for the families involved and the consensus reached in the cross-strait agreement."