Mainland and Taiwanese officials met soon after the incident, holding 15 rounds of talks, but the negotiations stalled in March.
The incident added fuel to the flames of cross-strait relations, with the Taiwanese coastguard accusing the men of trespassing in restricted waters and mainland officials accusing the island’s authorities of “rough dispersal of the fishing boat”.
However, the mainland and Taiwan signed an agreement on the return of the bodies and their vessel as well as compensation.
“It has been over five months since the incident occurred. The two sides have finally reached consensus in their negotiations,” said Li Zhaohui, deputy director of the Quanzhou Taiwan Affairs Office.
“We hope that the relevant parties in Taiwan will actively implement the agreed-upon terms, to bring peace to the victims and their families.”
The agreement was witnessed by members of the affected families, in the presence of Li and Xu Weiwei, from the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits.
Taiwan Coast Guard Administration deputy director General Hsieh Ching-chin was among the Taiwanese officials who took part in the talks at the Jinhu Hotel in Quemoy.
However, the two sides have yet to disclose the details of the terms. When asked, Hsieh said only that an agreement was reached after Tuesday’s talks, and that the atmosphere of the talks was “nice”.
Local media, quoting unnamed sources, reported that in addition to offering 1.5 million yuan (US$207,000) to each family in compensation, the Taiwanese side would apologise to the bereaved families for the deaths.
In return, the mainland side agreed to soften its description of the incident as a “malicious” act, instead referring to it as an “unintended collision” – a term preferred by the Taiwanese side, the reports said.
Shortly after the talks, both sides attended a public memorial service at a funeral home, during which the head of the island’s coastguard, Chang Chung-lung, apologised to the families.
“The Coast Guard Administration has apologised multiple times to the public and the families for not recording evidence in this case,” Chang said during the ceremony. “We are willing to publicly apologise once again for the suffering endured by the families and urge them to take care in their grief.”
In previous rounds of talks, the Taiwanese side maintained that the incident was caused by the fishermen’s illegal entry into Quemoy’s waters with an unnamed and unregistered boat.
After the funeral service, the mainland side sent two ships to retrieve the remains of the fishermen and their boat, while the mainland delegation returned to Quanzhou.
The agreement comes after signs of progress earlier this month, when TAO spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian said the two sides were in touch on the matter and hoped the issues “can be properly resolved through negotiation”.
02:17
‘One China’ explained
‘One China’ explained
Liang Wen-chieh, vice-chairman of Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council, described the talks as “between the parties involved” rather than “official-to-official”.
He said the key to the successful negotiations was the “continuous communication” between both sides, which helped “align their understanding and make progress possible”.
When asked for details of the agreement, Liang said: “It includes the return of the bodies and the fishing boat, as well as everything that has been accomplished today.”
Earlier this month, the mainland coast guard detained a Taiwanese fishing boat and its five crew members in waters controlled by Beijing, alleging that they had “violated the summer fishing moratorium by using small-hole trawl nets”.
Chen Yu-jen, a legislator from the Quemoy constituency and a member of the main opposition party Kuomintang, said on Tuesday that she was “confident” about the return of the fishing boat and its crew, as well as the soldier, following the resolution of the February capsizing incident.
“The mainland side has placed great importance on the Quemoy incident and has promised to return [the soldier] after reaching a consensus,” Chen said, noting her role in facilitating communication between the two sides.
“Hopefully, I will accompany his family to [Quanzhou] in August to retrieve him,” she said, expressing confidence that there would soon be a “satisfactory conclusion” regarding the return of the Da Jin Man 88 and its crew.
Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China to be reunited by force if necessary. Most countries, including the United States, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state. However, Washington is opposed to any attempt to take the self-governed island by force and is committed to supplying it with weapons.
