Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) questioned on Friday the remarks made by the Kuomintang’s (KMT) Vice Chairman during his meeting with China's Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO), finding them inappropriate.
KMT Vice Chairman Andrew Hsia (夏立言) met with TAO Director Song Tao (宋濤) in Shanghai Thursday evening. Media reports said that during the meeting Song criticised the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government for being "indifferent and callous" to human lives. Song referred to the death of two Chinese fishermen who drowned when their boat capsized during a pursuit by Taiwan’s coast guard in February. In response, Hsia gave assurances that the KMT will urge and monitor the DPP government to handle the matter appropriately. Hsia also requested that TAO offer condolences to the bereaved families.
During an interview, Premier Chen defended Taiwan’s coast guard saying that coast guard personnel enforced the law in accordance with international standards. He added that he finds Hsia’s alignment with China’s stance regrettable and unfair to the coast guards who are impartially performing their duties to uphold the law.
Chen calls on all parties to uphold a pragmatic approach in handling the incident of the capsized Chinese speedboat to ensure rights of both people are safeguarded.