The Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits warned
the Taiwan authorities on Friday to stop any actions threatening
the lives of fishermen from the mainland.
"Any actions threatening the peace of the Taiwan Straits should
be outlawed and penalized. The Taiwan authorities must make up for
the losses suffered by the mainland crewmen and pledge to avoid
this kind of action from now on," stated the association.
A mainland fishing boat was attacked by an armed Taiwan
coastguard patrol vessel, wounding two fishermen, at around 11 am
on Wednesday.
The "Minlianyu 2336" fishing boat with 5 crewmen from east
China's Fujian
Province was preparing to return to Fujian when it was pursued
on the Taiwan Straits and fired on.
One officer from the Taiwan patrol vessel had boarded the
fishing boat for an inspection.
The patrol vessel approached the fishing boat again and
requested the boat to stop for an inspection. Liu Haibin, the
boat's captain, refused to stop and sped up the boat to avoid any
conflict.
The captain feared that the coastguards, from Matsu, may rob the
crew, as had happened on previous occasions. After a 10-minute
chase, the patrol vessel fired at the boat's port side and
wheelhouse with assault rifles for three minutes, leaving 11 holes
in the boat and wounding two crewmen.
(China Daily October 25, 2003)