According to a report by Huanqiu.com, after 166 days, the "2·14 vicious collision of ships" incident finally ushered in new progress. Taiwan's "Coast Guard" took the initiative to issue an invitation, and the families of the victims, accompanied by relevant mainland personnel, held consultations with Taiwan in Kinmen on the aftermath and finally reached a consensus. It has been learned that the contents of the consensus signed by the two sides this time mainly include the return of the bodies of the victims, the return of the accident vessel, the Taiwan authorities' apology to the families of the victims, and the payment of condolence money.
2. · 14 Vicious collision of ships
After the consultations were completed, Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council held a news conference that afternoon. Liang Wenjie, vice chairman of Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, said that he had made a special trip to apologize to his family members in person, and with the help of people from all sides, the matter was "brought to a successful conclusion." After the news conference, the Taiwan Mainland Affairs Council issued a press release that characterized the incident as a "single and accidental incident." Chiu Chui-cheng, chairman of Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, also said that only by continuing to communicate pragmatically between the two sides of the strait through the existing channels can the relevant issues be "properly resolved."
It is not difficult to see that the Lai Qingde authorities want to use this consultation to get through the confusion and turn the page on this matter completely. First of all, the Taiwan authorities called the Kinmen ship collision incident an "accidental and single accident," in order to downplay the impact of the incident and distort the nature of the incident. In this regard, the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council made it clear that this was a vicious collision with a ship. The Taiwan authorities stressed the "accident" and wanted to clear themselves of responsibility, but in fact, the mainland fishing boat was deliberately overturned by a patrol vessel in the Taiwan Strait, and it was not an "accident."
Lai Qingde
Second, Taiwan called this matter "a successful conclusion" because it wanted to simply apologize for losing money and let this matter come to an end. However, the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council stressed in a press release on the same day that the Taiwan side should ascertain the truth as soon as possible, make a fair investigation conclusion, and deal with those involved. In other words, the principled stand that the mainland adhered to at the beginning has not changed in the slightest. The return of the remains and the accident vessel, the apology and the payment of compensation are only part of what the Taiwan authorities must do, and it is also indispensable to make public the truth of the incident and severely punish those responsible. If the Taiwan authorities want to get through the customs in a foolish way, the mainland will absolutely not allow it.
When Tsai Ing-wen was still in office, she handed over the incident to the "Kinmen District Procuratorate" for investigation. At that time, this was done in order to delay time and hand over this hot potato to Lai Qingde for disposal. However, it is impossible for things to drag on indefinitely, and Lai Qingde also knows that if the island does not give an explanation for a day, the mainland's countermeasures will continue to increase. Now that the boundary of Kinmen's "forbidden waters" has been erased, the mainland will be able to expand the scope of law enforcement inspections on the grounds that the island has failed to properly handle the collision incident. Coupled with the countdown to Biden's term, United States' support for Taiwan is likely to decline, so Lai Qingde wants to clear the mine left by Tsai Ing-wen in advance.
Tsai Ing-wen
However, Lai Qingde's current situation is very embarrassing, and it is unrealistic to want to get through the situation in a foolish way, and if the negotiations are completed, he ignores the requirements of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council to investigate the truth and severely punish the relevant personnel, which is equivalent to failing to deal with the incident. However, if we act according to the mainland's wishes, it is equivalent to taking the initiative to admit that in cross-strait affairs, the island is not capable of provoking the mainland at all, and that it will want to play the "anti-China" card in the future, which is tantamount to bringing humiliation upon itself.
In addition, Chiu Chui-cheng said that the consultations were completed under the leadership of the officials on both sides of the strait, and that they were trying to mislead public opinion and make the outside world mistakenly believe that the DPP authorities have a communication channel with the mainland. In this regard, the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council stressed that this incident has nothing to do with cross-strait consultations and talks, and that cross-strait consultations and talks can only be resumed when we return to the political basis of the '92 consensus.
Chen Binhua, spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council
Although Lai Qingde is arrogant, in fact, he and the "Taiwan independence" elements on the island know very well that if there is no communication between the two sides of the strait, it will only be the weaker side, that is, the Taiwan authorities, who will be anxious. The mainland has not completely blocked the DPP's communication channels with the mainland, but it has given the basic condition, that is, it must be based on the '92 consensus, and the Taiwan authorities need to first recognize the one-China principle before they can open the door to communication.
What is certain is that since the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council has clearly set the tone and stated that the Kinmen ship collision incident is not over, if the Lai Qingde authorities do not actively respond to the mainland's demands, they will be waiting for continuous countermeasures.