One of two fishers from Kinmen County is still being held by Chinese authorities, after the pair went astray during a fishing trip and were rescued by the China Coast Guard earlier this week, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office said yesterday.
One of the individuals is a 25-year-old man surnamed Hu (胡), whom China thinks is an active-duty soldier, while the other man, 40-year-old Wu (吳), is in the process of being returned by Chinese authorities, it said.
China’s Fujian Province coast guard rescued the two men aboard an unidentified fishing boat in the province’s Weitou Bay (圍頭灣) at 4am on Monday, the office said.
Photo courtesy of the Coast Guard Administration
Office spokesman Chen Binhua (陳斌華) said Hu was being held because he “intentionally fabricated information about his occupation in an attempt to conceal it.”
Therefore, the Chinese authorities need to further verify Hu’s identity to fully understand the situation, he said, adding that Wu is being sent back to Kinmen County.
China had given the two individuals medical aid and other services, even allowing them to phone their families to inform them that they are safe, Chen Binhua said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Jessica Chen (陳玉珍) earlier in the day told reporters that China was still holding one of the two fishers.
She hopes China would treat Hu with kindness, and she is willing to arrange a trip to visit him and assist in his return to Kinmen, Jessica Chen said.
On Thursday, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) expressed hope that the Chinese authorities would expedite the return of two anglers.
The remarks were made after Chen Binhua confirmed on Monday that two people from Kinmen were rescued from a boat after its engine failed earlier that day.
The Coast Guard Administration personnel contacted their Chinese counterparts shortly after the incident and confirmed that the two men were safe and sound, MAC spokesman Jan Jyh-horng (詹志宏) told a news conference.
He hopes Chinese authorities would honor their promise and send the two men back as quickly as possible, he added.
Apparently, China intends to return the two individuals through non-official channels, he said.
Kinmen County Commissioner Chen Fu-hai (陳福海) also called on China to send the two anglers back home as soon as possible, saying the county government has a fishing boat ready to pick them up any time.
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