The US investigation into the death of Taiwanese captain Wu Lai-yu (吳來于) on a fishing vessel hijacked by Somali pirates is expected to be completed soon, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) spokesperson Sheila Paskman said yesterday.
“We [the AIT] do not have the report yet, but we expect it soon,” Paskman said by telephone, -without giving an exact date.
“As soon as the AIT receives it, we will pass it on to the Taiwan authorities,” she said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has repeatedly said that the review of the circumstances surrounding Wu’s death was expected in the middle of this month, based on what “it was told by the AIT.”
Approached by reporters yesterday, Minister of Foreign Affairs Timothy Yang (楊進添) said that he expected to receive the report a little later than anticipated “because of the time difference between Taiwan and the US.”
Wu, skipper of the Jih chun Tsai No. 68 which was hijacked by Somali pirates off the east coast of Africa on March 30 last year, was killed in the crossfire on May 10 when a unit of the US navy on an anti-piracy mission engaged the pirates.
The incident raised the ire of local fishermen’s groups because the news of Wu’s death was not made public until May 21, after the ministry was able to verify with the US the information contained in a press release from NATO, which commanded the mission.
Three Somali pirates were also killed in the incident and two Chinese fishermen were injured.
Local fishermen’s groups were also angry that Wu’s body was buried at sea without any prior consultation with his family in Kaohsiung.
US Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell expressed his condolences to Wu’s family in a letter dated June 21, while the AIT’s Kaohsiung branch chief personally visited the family twice.
The ministry has demanded a full account of the incident from the US and has suggested that the US should consider offering Wu’s family monetary compensation.
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