How Will China React to Taiwan's Report on Kinmen Incident?
Taiwan officials have delivered a preliminary report to legislators with their version of what happened when a Taiwanese coast guard vessel pursued a Chinese fishing boat with fatal results.
Transcript
00:00 Tensions between China and Taiwan are still high over the fatal capsizing of a Chinese fishing boat.
00:06 Taiwan officials have delivered a report to the legislators with their version of events,
00:11 but it leaves more questions than answers.
00:14 Louise Wat has been following developments from Taipei.
00:17 Louise, what's the latest?
00:19 Well, opposition lawmakers say it's a fact that a Taiwanese Coast Guard vessel hit the Chinese fishing boat.
00:26 But the government's position, which was again restated today in the legislature, was that no deliberate collision occurred.
00:34 Now what we do know is that almost three weeks ago now, a Taiwanese Coast Guard vessel chased a Chinese boat that was close to Jinmen.
00:44 These are Taiwanese islands, but they're just off the Chinese coast, and it's an area that Taiwan has restricted for military purposes.
00:53 The Chinese fishing boat fled, and it ended up capsizing, and two of the four fishermen died.
01:02 Now, as well as the question of did the Taiwanese Coast Guard vessel purposefully collide with the fishing boat,
01:09 opposition lawmakers today in the legislature raised the issue of there was no recording of the incident, and they seized on this.
01:18 Now, the authorities say there was no recording because the personnel on board the Coast Guard vessel were too busy trying to maintain the balance of the ship
01:28 to pick up a video camera and record what was going on, but they said to address this in the future,
01:34 they will procure 24-hour video surveillance systems, so if another incident occurs, they will have recorded evidence.
01:43 But as there was no recording of this incident, there's still a lot of uncertainty as to what actually happened.
01:50 And Louise, how is China likely to react to today's report to Taiwan's legislature?
01:57 Well, China has already blamed Taiwan's ruling party for the two deaths, and it's stepped up patrols around Jinmen, which has also raised tensions.
02:08 But I think for now, China is unlikely to react further.
02:13 It has a lot on its plate, including a slowing economy and mounting local government debt.
02:19 And this week is actually the most important week on the political calendar for Beijing.
02:24 It's when its annual legislature when its legislature holds its once a year meeting in Beijing, and thousands of delegates will be meeting there.
02:35 But in a break from tradition, this afternoon it was announced that the Chinese premier will not be holding his customary press conference at the close of the session.
02:45 Now, this press conference is something that has happened every year since 1993.
02:51 It's the only time when foreign journalists get a chance to ask questions of the Chinese premier.
02:58 And the fact that it's not happening is quite significant, and I think it's another sign of the increasing inaccessibility of the Chinese leadership.
03:07 It's harder for journalists and foreign governments to know what they're thinking.
03:12 kink.
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